The cover art for Wolf Alice’s fourth album, The Clearing, features Ellie Rowsell in the sympathetic glare of a spotlight, grasping her mic with the power stance of a globe-conquering 1970s idol. Her display of confidence rings through the album, which takes an audacious approach to its every moment, revelling in a lush orchestral palate that hasn’t been in fashion since the last gasps of Britpop. 

Since the days of On The Road With Wolf Alice in 2016 (a rock doc that followed them, huddled in vans, as they scraped by on meagre earnings from shows in small venues), they’ve positioned themselves as a band with a dogged determination to prove themselves. But here they’re on top, festooning each track with a maximalist yacht-rock aesthetic that almost begs for a red carpet to be rolled out in their honour. 

‘Bloom Baby Bloom’, the lead single, is the first sign of their crackling self-assurance, shifting gears from soft rock to a soaring delicate chorus, with guttural shrieks from Rowsell adding a frazzled tension to each note in the closer. Elsewhere, the touchstones of American rock roar loudly with an unabashed optimism, Rowsell’s vocals soaring to impressive heights as she opines the beauty of California and Hollywood fantasies about having her name up in lights. 

Her vocals are an obvious highlight, but Rowsell’s lyrics rarely seem to keep pace with the big emotions on offer, leaning heavily on shopworn cliché; she builds a world where people fail to see the wood for the trees, remove knives from backs, dish dirt, and realise that three is a crowd. But maybe the arena energy emanating from each meticulously layered track requires phrasing that’s as instantly recognisable as a greeting card. 

When its over-the-top aesthetic works, this is the festival fist-pump Wolf Alice aspire to. When it doesn’t, the overproduction (a warped vocal sample here, a rousing choral swell there) gives the air of a band who’ve enjoyed tinkering in their studio a little too much. 

The Clearing is out now on RCA Records.