My Love is Cool // Wolf Alice
The June of 2015 was the month of exams, the useless British summer and Wolf Alice’s long-anticipated debut album. My Love is Cool takes elements of ‘90s shoegaze alongside heavier alt-rock riffs to create a sound so distinct from everything released last year.
‘Lisbon,’ the loud and heartbreaking love song, is the album’s highlight. In this song, lead singer/millennial riot grrrl Ellie Rowsell declares: “I would lick your wounds and care.” The explosive breaks between verses, littered with such grand declarations, take this song above the rest on the album.
But it’s not just an album of angsty love songs; ‘Bros’ is dedicated to Ellie’s best friend and the band’s ex-bass player Sadie, ‘Giant Peach’ is a homage to a hometown, ‘Soapy Water’ details the struggle with mental health, and ‘The Wonderwhy’ deals with agnosticism. All in all, it’s a clever, complex piece of work which acted as the soundtrack to the latter end of my 2015. I strongly urge a listen.
Words by Caitlin O’Connor