Wolf Alice - 'Bloom Baby Bloom'
Wolf Alice leap into new territory with their spectacular new single Bloom Baby Bloom.
The band are back with long-awaited new music, and it sounds like it was very much worth waiting the four years since their previous record Blue Weekend. That album also saw the quartet dabble in a different sound, going back to their folky origins on tracks such as Safe From Heartbreak (if you never fall in love). But Bloom Baby Bloom is an utterly new sound for them. And it’s exceptional.
There is nothing that this song doesn’t achieve. It opens with a joyful, jaunty piano, accompanied by claps, and for a few seconds, you think that the track will be jovial and light-hearted. Things switch up quickly, though, when Ellie Rowsell’s vocals come soaring in. Her voice has always been impressive and versatile, but on this song, it’s used in a different way, and it’s completely captivating. Speaking on the idea behind that, Rowsell said: “I wanted a rock song to focus on the performance element of a rock song and sing like Axl Rose, but to be singing a song about being a woman. I’ve used the guitar as a shield in the past, playing it has perhaps been some way to reject the ‘girl singer in band’ trope, but I wanted to focus on my voice as a rock instrument so it’s been freeing to put the guitar down and reach a point where I don’t feel like I need to prove that I’m a musician.”
As I listened to the song, I really picked up on the freeing elements of it. The music video is also fantastic and feels liberating to watch. “Look at me trying to play it hard/I’m so sick and tired of playing it hard” Rowsell exclaims ferociously during the pre-chorus, her voice resentful and angry. The chorus when it comes sounds like relief, with the production building and crashing into a calmer, steadier place. “But I’ll bloom, baby, bloom/Watch me, yeah, you’ll see just what I’m worth” Rowsell delivers the chorus operatically.
This single marks the start of an incredibly exciting new era for Wolf Alice, and their new album The Clearing is out on 29 August.
Words by Lucy Skeet
