North London quartet Wolf Alice were fairly fatigued after a lengthy tour for their third album, 2021 release 'Blue Weekend,' which was made during COVID-19 and therefore also took longer than usual to complete. What refreshed these songwriters and players after some time recovering turned out to be a more minimalist approach to, as well as a sense of positivity in, the construction of a song. “We were kind of eager to make music that didn’t make us feel depressed,” said lead singer Ellie Rowsell. “It felt like a challenge to write music that wasn’t dark.”

The band’s most scaled back production to-date, a collection of classic (think 1970s) rock and pop-leaning tunes written mostly at home in the U.K. then recorded in Los Angeles, is 'The Clearing,' which was released in August 2025. Amid the European leg of the Wolf Alice world tour, Rowsell and bandmate Joel Amey met me virturally to talk On The Record with WNXP.