WOLF ALICE have shared their new single, The Sofa, adding a further dimension to their highly
anticipated fourth studio album, The Clearing, now confirmed for release on 22 August.
Following a triumphant return to the stage with a headlining festival performance at Primavera – during
which they unveiled The Sofa for the first time and, by the end, had thousands singing along – and a
history defining Glastonbury set on home soil, this new era announces Wolf Alice as a band in a league
entirely of their own.
The Sofa is the album’s psychological portrait and a microcosm of the wider themes it reckons with:
falling in love with your life for exactly what it is and finally letting go of unrealised dreams without
shame, guilt or disappointment as you grow older. Unravelling like a daydream on an idle afternoon,
The Sofa is a piano ballad fortified by the best songwriting of Ellie Rowsell’s career – radical in its
unflinching honesty. “Didn’t make it out to California / Where I thought I might clean the slate / Feels a
little like I’m stuck in Seven Sisters / North London, oh England / And maybe that’s OK,” sings Rowsell.
In abandoning the self-consciousness that weighs down your twenties, Wolf Alice have reached a point
of hard-won serenity.
“It’s about not trying so hard to figure everything out, reflecting on getting older and trying not to agonise
over things that have or haven’t happened in your life” shares Ellie. “It’s also about trying to get to grips
with the polarising aspects of one’s life when you’re in a band. You’ve just played a huge tour, and you
come home, and you have your dinner on the sofa. For me, it’s summed up in how I treat TV. I used to
never watch the same thing twice because I thought I’ve got so much to discover And now I’m like, it’s OK
if I just want to rewatch Peep Show for the thirteenth time”
Shot on the streets of the band’s native North London in homage to the lyrics, the video for The Sofa
captures the day-dreamy spirit of the song in boldly coloured slow motion. Ellie is transported on a
surreal fantasy through the euphoric messiness of British summertime street life while never leaving
the comfort of her sofa. Inspired by classic street photography, these vignettes capture the blissed out
interactions of people from all walks of life, celebrating the shared joy we feel with strangers on a
sunny day. The video was directed by Fiona Jane Burgess (Christina Aguilera, girlinred, Gucci) and
features numerous easter eggs for the band’s forthcoming album.
The single release follows Wolf Alice’s victorious return to Glastonbury Festival in June, performing a
razor sharp set of hits to a sunset crowd on the Other Stage. Combining fan favourites such as Bros and
Don’t Delete The Kisses with the jubilant new singles, the slot felt like a victory lap for a band truly at
the peak of their powers.
The Sofa comes after the album’s first single, Bloom Baby Bloom. A fiercely powerful introduction to
The Clearing, it’s an arresting ode to growth, evolution and expansion in life, music and art. With its
rolling bass riff, this first piece of new music in three years is a whip-smart detestosteroned twist on
heavy rock. It arrived alongside a video by noted alt-pop director Colin Solal Cardo, renowned for
collaborations with Charli XCX, Robyn and Christine & The Queens.
The video deconstructs a classic rock performance by drawing on Bob Fosse and All That Jazz, featuring
a brilliant performance from Ellie in the middle of a host of dancers choreographed by Emmy Award-
winning choreographer Ryan Heffington (Euphoria, Sia, Kenzo and Margaret Qualley).
Written in Seven Sisters and recorded in LA with Grammy-winning master producer Greg Kurstin last
year, The Clearing reveals where Wolf Alice stand sonically in 2025, delivering a supremely confident
collection of songs bursting with ambition, ideas and emotion.