“Visions Of A Life plays off an entire cosmic spectrum of music styles”
Two years after the release of 2015’s My Love Is Cool, Wolf Alice is back again with their second studio album. The 12-track album, titled Visions Of A Life, stays loyal to the band’s mastery of fusing garage punk, psychedelic pop, and rock ballads. While their debut formed a humble reputation, the new album is special in its extra-terrestrial muses. Songs like “Beautifully Unconventional” and “Formidable Cool” are as fun as ever, showing off lead singer Ellie Rowsell’s lush, tomboyish whispers. One by one, Visions Of A Life plays off an entire cosmic spectrum of music styles, with the album’s first single “Yuk Foo” remaining one of the year’s riskiest tracks.
The four-membered band from North London digs deeper in their gritty roots for the album’s self-titled last track: “Visions of a life / Where I was satisfied / Feed my hungry mind / Where are you when I close my eyes?” Somehow, Wolf Alice’s music has grown darker and even more poetic since we last heard from them, making us forget that the lyrics “I wanna fuck all the people I meet / Fuck all my friends and all the people in the street” come from the same band that sings “Me and you were meant to be / In love / Me and you / I see the signs of a lifetime / You ‘til I die.”
It must be said, however, that the first half of Visions Of A Life seems easier to identify with Wolf Alice than the latter, but having cool punk’s Ellie back makes up for the album’s scarce shortcomings.