Wolf Alice on the road to howling success

“The week of the album release was one of the craziest times of our lives,” recalls their singer, Ellie Rowsell. “It was so busy but so exciting. It was emotionally draining but we’ve been recovering now and can reflect on it a bit. We were just very happy at how it’s gone down with everyone, and even though we’ll be touring the album for quite a while we’re already getting excited about making new music.”

That album, My Love Is Cool, proved a strong rebuttal to those saying quality alternative music can’t crack the charts anymore. The influences in Wolf Alice may be noticeable, from Sonic Youth to The Cocteau Twins, but it’s an album with such energy and spirit that it’s hard not to get sucked into it.

There’s the ferocious likes of You’re A Germ and Giant Peach, the ethereal vocals on Bros and the dreamy Swallowtail, combining for a confident record. That perhaps reflects that the group themselves took time to come together.

Originally a folksy duo with just Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, they expanded into a noisier direction with the addition of bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey. They also cut their teeth with a couple of EPs, rather than launching straight into a full album, a decision Rowsell feels the band benefited from.

“The two EPs were really important. One, because it gave us a studio experience and that was near essential, because it lets you make mistakes that you can learn from and you become familiar with the whole procedure. Then, secondly, when it comes to picking songs for an album then you’ve got these songs recorded already and you can look at what you want to carry forward to new ones.

“It still felt really scary going to doing an album, because an album feels like a much bigger deal. We weren’t maybe more confident because of doing the EPs but we did feel that we were better at [recording], to put it bluntly.”

The band’s success isn’t just down to their studio time, however. An often praised live band, the summer has seen them earn glowing reviews for high-octane sets at T in the Park, Glastonbury, and Reading and Leeds, among others, with their thrashier side given more reign.

“I really feed off the audience,” adds Rowsell, who’s no stranger to stage diving. “If it’s a bad audience it can be harder to get into the right mindset, but recently we’ve been really lucky, and everyone has been really responsive.”

That likely means they’ll be higher up the festival bills when next summer rolls around. Coming on the heels of a festival season mostly dominated by familiar faces, Rowsell is keen to see a new generation of headliners emerge.

“I like seeing older bands come back and do what they do, but someone has to be brave, and book a new band to start new cycle,” she says. “I’ve started enjoying smaller festivals because of that freshness. You don’t get headliners who are doing it for the money or who’ve headlined them all for ages. You can feel that freshness in the atmosphere and see it in their faces.”

Doing the festival circuit has also placed the group into the debate about whether there are enough female acts getting the chance to play at rock events.

“A lot of the female artists that the media spotlight is on are these big pop acts. The V Festival might have women playing, but a lot of them are your Jessie J's and people like that. In alternative music, there are not enough women getting to play. I’m not sure you should start getting people booked based on gender but it would be one way of changing things.”

The future for Wolf Alice looks to involve plenty more touring. But as some of their videos suggest, there’s a cinematic side there too, and that’s something Rowsell would love to explore more.

“I’d really like to get into the cinema. I’ve not had much experience of it, but it feels like a bucket list thing to get involved with that, whether it’s writing, performing or doing a soundtrack.”

Wolf Alice play the O2 ABC on Saturday September 19.