Albums to watch

Blue Weekend

Wolf Alice

Blue Weekend

Third album from the London alt.rock quartet produced by Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Björk)

ADM rating[?]

8.3

Label
Dirty Hit
UK Release date
04/06/2021
US Release date
04/06/2021
  1. 10.0 |   NME

    The Londoners cement their place at the peak of British music with a stunningly good third album
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  2. 10.0 |   DIY

    A history book-cementing document of a band at the peak of their powers
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  3. 10.0 |   The Guardian

    On their third and best album, the London four-piece embrace a more polished, widescreen sound that serves their sharp writing on late-20s anxieties
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  4. 10.0 |   The Independent

    If you imagine their old songs as rally cars, the new ones are still driven as wildly, but with steelier focus and in-built roll cages
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  5. 10.0 |   Upset

    ‘Blue Weekend’ is masterful. Noticeably simpler in sound than was perhaps expected, some songs are stripped right back to the barest of bones. But that’s fine, because when you have moments of pure beauty like this, you don’t need fancy clothes to cover them
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  6. 10.0 |   A.V. Club

    Blue Weekend is Wolf Alice’s best work yet – a confident, euphoric, blistering 40 minutes that’s guaranteed to be on many people’s ‘best of’ lists at the end of the year. Never mind the Mercury Prize – this is an album with its sights firmly set on the Grammys
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  7. 10.0 |   Albumism

    If there’s any justice in this world, Blue Weekend will be the album that finally convinces audiences outside of the UK—and specifically here, stateside—of their brilliance
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  8. 9.4 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    A true coming-of-age record for a band that's been knocking on the door for some time now. Blue Weekend is indeed all it's hyped up to be
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  9. 9.0 |   Gigwise

    With a newfound simplicity, the dynamic shifts hang together around earnest vocals and mature songwriting to produce not only a sonic achievement but an emotionally intimate one
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  10. 9.0 |   Vinyl Chapters

    A great return from one of Britain’s brightest sparks
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  11. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Wolf Alice’s ambitions shine bright on the cohesively brilliant and expansive Blue Weekend
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  12. 9.0 |   Under The Radar

    A stunning return and one that should cement Wolf Alice’s reputation still further
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  13. 8.0 |   Clash

    Definitely not a reinvention, it plays to the band’s strengths while amplifying new qualities, a record as bruising as it is subtle. Working to their own passions and desires, ‘Blue Weekend’ places Wolf Alice beyond the reach of their peers
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  14. 8.0 |   Mojo

    A breathy soundworld throbs with chillout opportunity and toggles toothache-sweet grunge buzz, Laurel canyon lilt and skyward soundtrack The Last man On Earth. Alive with confessional ideas. Print edition only

  15. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    The Mercury Prize-winning band have a take-it-or-leave-it confidence throughout their third album
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  16. 8.0 |   XS Noize

    Wolf Alice now have to be considered among the UK’s best current bands, and Blue Weekend is an addition to their catalogue that should ensure they secure top billing when festivals return
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  17. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Ellie Rowsell’s shapeshifting, storytelling flair combines with shoegaze, folk and indie pop on this alchemically good album
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  18. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    The north London quartet’s third effort is a dynamic and diverse journey through love that further secures their status as one of the UK's best acts
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  19. 8.0 |   God Is In The TV

    An intense collection of memorable and powerful tracks that twist and turn. An intensity that’s present in both the explosive and mellow moments
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  20. 8.0 |   Record Collector

    Rowsell’s rallying cry in Smile that “I ain’t afraid of the fact that I’m sensitive” is borne out in a wild and tender third album. Next year’s main stages had better be prepared
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  21. 7.5 |   Northern Transmissions

    ‘Blue Weekend’ will crystallise Wolf Alice’s status as one of the most important bands of the last 10 years but it’s hard to overlook the album is missing an extra sprinkling of magic
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  22. 7.2 |   Pitchfork

    The UK band’s enormous third album is pristine and emotionally extravagant, the platonic ideal for contemporary big-tent rock music
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  23. 7.0 |   No Ripcord

    Musically, Blue Weekend serves as a refreshing counterpoint to the U.K.'s recent post-punk renaissance led by acts such as Squid, The Murder Capital, and Fontaines DC
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  24. 7.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    The formula remains largely the same – singer Ellie Rowsell’s subtly raspy vocals and confessional lyrics buttressed by the grungy indie pop they made their name with – although there are efforts made to deviate from this, with varying success
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  25. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Eclecticism is what makes them an exciting proposition
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  26. 6.0 |   The Irish Times

    There is nothing refreshingly new here, or anything that as emotively pulls at the heartstrings as Silk from T2 Trainspotting
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  27. 4.0 |   The FT

    Wolf Alice’s Blue Weekend fails to reach their ambitious high standards
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