The Top 25 Albums Of 2021 (So Far): Wolf Alice - 'Blue Weekend'

It’s safe to say you’re onto a good thing when your brand-new album snags the distinction of having 2021’s highest-rating album of the year so far on Metacritic within the first few days of its release. 

Released just a few short weeks ago, London rockers Wolf Alice continued their knack for charming critics, with the emotively elegant Blue Weekend dropping into the world on 4 June and snagging a heap of attention all around the globe (including the quartet’s first ever Aussie Top 10 album, peaking at #9).

But to hell with stats and critics, does this album actually deserve the incessant praise it snapped up in an insanely short space of time? In short, yes. 

While there were some huge album shoes to fill in the wake of the group’s Mercury Award winning second album Visions Of A Life, the UK bunch have embraced and crafted true ambient glamour and crystalline magic on their third full-length outing, with their ambition and shifting stylistic temperaments coming to luminous fruition throughout Blue Weekend’s eleven tracks.

At times embodying acoustic whimsy beneath crashing textures overhead, Blue Weekend is disarmingly helmed by lead vocalist Ellie Rowsell as the album channels traditional alternative rock elements intertwined with tales of imposter syndrome, addiction and misogyny that are intelligently presented without feeling forced or trite. Each passing track on the album builds its own standalone universe for the band to flex and flourish their significant writing and production prowess, from the unexpected indie take on country pop (Safe From Heartbreak (If I Never Fall In Love)) to nu-metal adjacent mayhem (Play The Greatest Hits) and glistening Britpop anthems (The Last Man On Earth). There’s truly never a dull moment on this eclectic smorgasbord that stands firmly and unapologetically alone and yet, somehow also defiantly as a cohesive whole. Emotionally stable break up song? Check. Macbeth quote? Check. Some #MeToo-worthy blasts to those who should know better? You betcha.

It comes as very little surprise Wolf Alice would birth a total knockout for their third full length outing, given their track record as critical darlings and their timing with releasing this new album as their motherland crawls back to some semblance of normalcy after the year from hell. Blue Weekend is ultimately a charming mixtape of everything you know and love about Wolf Alice, but with a sharp versatility that is affable, diverse, and entirely irresistible.