Wolves may not hibernate, but the Wolf Alice pack have certainly been sleepy of late.
The past two years have been a whirlwind for the band since the release of their sophomore album 'Visions Of A Life' in 2017, which picked up last year's Mercury Prize beating out the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Florence & The Machine.
Things pick up again for Wolf Alice in the coming months as they prepare for Splendour In The Grass and Spin Off Festival in July. “2019 for Wolf Alice has been very, very dormant,” bassist Theo Ellis reports.
“We've haven't really done anything, we've just been hanging out. I've caught all of us moping around pubs waiting to go to Australia to play these festivals.”
Winning the 2018 Mercury Prize for 'Visions Of A Life' was a momentous occasion for the member of Wolf Alice, with the band taking the time to really savour and appreciate the achievement. “[I'm] still buzzed, I'm still celebrating it,” Theo says.
“The day after we won the Mercury Prize we flew to Australia, I'm not joking. I've never been more hungover in my life and we flew to Sydney.”
With Wolf Alice taking some well-earned time off, Theo says he's unsure exactly what they have planned for their festival shows.
“It's a festival, so we have to keep the tempo quite high to make sure everyone is having a good time; we'll play a selection of the two albums and maybe a new tune. Who knows? I'm just excited to come to Australia again,” he says.
Following the brief Australian run, Wolf Alice dive head-first into the British summer festival season.
As they begin to reassemble for live shows, plans for new music also begin to coalesce. “We're in the middle of starting to put our thoughts together about making a third album now,” Theo says.
“The four of us have only just sat down in a room and started to figure things out, and I think in the next month or so we'll try to put together some songs. It's very early stages. I can't wait to hear what comes next.”
Theo goes on to say that he's often surprised by what comes out of Wolf Alice when they begin a new batch of songs. “Yeah, especially when we first start making new music because it's usually terrible so I'm shocked,” he jests, “then eventually it kind of balances itself out.”
Though Wolf Alice have become lauded darlings in their home country, Theo recalls a time not too long ago when Australia was the only place you could hear their music on the radio. “Triple J was one of the first stations to play us on the radio,” he says.
“I think maybe [it was] the first station to play us on the radio before [BBC] Radio 1 or anywhere else, so Australia has always been a top destination for us to come to.”
Wolf Alice play Spin Off Festival at Adelaide Showground 19 July and Splendour In The Grass (Byron Bay) 20 July.
Wolf Alice 2019 Tour Dates
Tue 16 Jul - Howler (Melbourne)Wed 17 Jul - The Lansdowne Hotel (Sydney)
