Interview Wolf Alice on second Hyundai Mercury Prize nod: “We had none of those famous sophomore album problems”

Following up a debut album that made them the country’s bright new indie hope was never going to be easy for Wolf Alice. ‘My Love Is Cool’ marked the band out as torchbearers for a new generation, inspired by the ‘00s indie bands they grew up listening to while also pushing things forward in new, fresh directions. Any worries about difficult second album syndrome were thrown out of the window within the two minutes of comeback single ‘Yuk Foo’, though. The heaviest Wolf Alice have ever sounded, it was a brutal reintroduction that showed them pushing forwards into even more vital, era-defining territory.

After finishing the tour for their debut (also shortlisted for the Prize), Wolf Alice decamped to Los Angeles to create ‘Visions Of A Life’, a darker, twisted beast that saw their star rise even further. It also saw them refusing to hold back. “I think sometimes I felt embarrassed to suggest something or try something out [on the first album],” vocalist Ellie Rowsell tells us. “With this one I was determined not to be embarrassed or hold anything back, because those are probably the moments that I regretted in the first album, and you can hear yourself holding back a bit or remember the idea that you never suggested.”

Sitting backstage at Reading Festival - where they headline the second biggest stage tonight in one of the biggest shows of their career thus far - it’s a good time to reflect; the band finished the first preview tour for ‘Visions Of A Life’ in this exact field twelve months ago, playing a secret show on the tiny Festival Republic stage, showcasing songs from what would become album two.
“It was sick, yeah!” bassist Theo Ellis remembers. “We played at midday and it was really fun. We’d been in the middle of playing a bunch of shows in tiny venues, and it was the first time we’d played in the UK in ages, and that whole thing was really fun, and it culminated here. It felt like we were actually back to being a band again.

“Those shows are almost as nervewracking as playing big ones, Theo continues, reflecting on the band easing themselves back into playing live and ushering in their second age. “You can really see how people feel about how you’re playing, cos they’re just there and so close. I found it quite nervewracking. It was a good way to get back into the swing of things. We’re very much a band who tour a lot so that was necessary before we released the album. And it was also really fun to go back and play like Westgarth [Social Club, Middlesbrough] where we’d played right at the start.”