Wolf Alice returned last year with its first album since Visions Of Life was released in 2017. The English quartet’s 2016 debut My Love Is Cool brought international success, thanks in part to the hit single “Bros.” As on those earlier efforts, Wolf Alice fills Blue Weekend with gorgeous techno ballads, as well as high-energy tracks that seem on the verge on careening out of control. Fans of the latter approach might be a bit disappointed since there’s less firepower this time out, although most of these songs have bursts of energy. Plus, it’s a consistently engaging effort that explores the perils of romantic entanglements.
Although all four band members are listed as songwriters, it’s a safe bet lead vocalist-guitarist Ellie Rowsell crafted the lyrics. Most are from a female point of view, and Rowsell delivers them in a variety of ways. “Delicious Things” is a tale of an aspiring starlet navigating her first Hollywood party set to a slinky arrangement. “I’m no longer pulling pints, I’m no longer cashing tills,” Rowsell observes in a playful whisper. “I’m alive I feel like Marilyn Monroe.” Still, the predatory nature of the coke-snorting film producer making moves on her causes to feel “I don’t belong here.”
None of the relationships depicted on Blue Weekend seem to be beneficial, from the woman willing to welcome back her two-timing stud on “Lipstick On The Glass” to the self-centered guy on “The Last Man On Earth.” The delicately beautiful “No Hard Feelings” strikes the most optimistic note, as two lovers agree to part as friends. “And for everything that ends/Something else must begin/No hard feelings honey/And we both will take the win.” The hard-edged “Smile” mixes guitars and synthesizers as Rowsell strikes a defiant pose. “And your choice to call me cute has offended me/I have power there are people who depend on me.” For those of us always eager to hear Wolf Alice totally cut loose, the energetic and irresistibly catchy “Play The Greatest Hits” provides a thrilling ride.
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