Least faves: Space & Time, St. Purple & Green.

Genre-hopping rockers claim £25,000 prize for an album the Guardian called ‘an exuberant jumble’.

Visions of a Life is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Wolf Alice, released on 29 September 2017 through Dirty Hit. The album received acclaim from music critics and appeared on several year-end lists, as well as winning the 2018 Mercury Prize. In November 2016, drummer Joel Amey said the band is "very much in the middle of writing some new music

Visions Of A Life is track 12 on Wolf Alice’s second album. It clocks in at nearly eight minutes and is their longest song to date. When the song was first demoed, it was originally called ‘Massive Anal Bleach Attack’. Stemming from three different musical starting points that were woven together, we attempted to create a depiction of a personal journey, exploring different moods and contexts along the way. Though layered in different sections to create a sense of uniqueness to each movement, the main four instruments (two guitars, bass, drums) are a constant throughout.

In some ways, Wolf Alice’s second album is an extension of their 2015 debut, ‘My Love Is Cool’. That excellent record was restless, too, flitting from hypnotic, electronic folk to teeth-baring rock. With ‘Visions Of A Life’ Wolf Alice are removing any doubt about their status in the UK music scene. Best band in Britain? 100 per cent.

Listen free to Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life (Heavenward, Yuk Foo and more). Visions Of A Life is the second studio album by British alternative-rock band Wolf Alice. It was released on the 29th September 2017 through the label Dirty Hit. The album received acclaim from music critics and appeared on several year-end lists, as well as winning the 2018 Mercury Prize Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at Last.

So who are Wolf Alice and where do they come from? Answering the burning question, they are North London based band currently comprised of Ellie Roswell, Violinist/Guitarist Joff Oddie, Bassist Theo Ellis, and Percussionist Joel Amey. Often praised for their Neo Grunge sound and Shoegaze stylings, Wolf Alice seemingly faded out of the spotlight until recent when they released their highly anticipated sophomore album Visions of a Life on September 29, 2017 under the Dirty Hit label. An impressive switch-up, Visions of a Life is obviously an experiment in sound. It can take some time to appreciate, but Wolf Alice has forged an album that is pure sound aesthetic. That said, Wolf Alice does not try to be something that tries hard to impress, they simply just exist somewhere where people will either get it or will not.

Following Wolf Alice’s critically acclaimed debut album My Love Is Cool in 2015, which was ranked fourth best album of the year by NME, the North London alt rockers had a lot to live up to with their second release, and with Visions Of A Life, not only have they matched their debut, but outdone it. The album features an array of sub-genres and emotions; from melancholic and haunting such as the glorious opening track, Heavenward, which deals with the death of the friend, and catchy, up-lifting floorfillers such as the more poppy Beautifully Unconventional, in which Ro. .

Visions of a Life was one of my most anticipated albums of the year, and yet I wasn’t surprised when it disappointed me. I think I knew in my heart that Wolf Alice wouldn’t come through with anything transcendentally brilliant, some masterwork to cement their place in indie rock history. And they haven’t; Visions of a Life is a solid effort, but as an album it’s more a collection of songs than something cohesive you could put your finger on. The most striking example of this lack of stylistic consistency is the first two tracks. For Wolf Alice this problem does sort of go away towards the mid-end half of the album, but that’s only because the songs then fall into the sort of mid-paced melodic indie-rock matched with grungy choruses they’re already known for (where the nicely melodic bits are ruined by the heavy-handed grung-y choruses anyway). Although, it is true that they’ve implemented some new tricks.

On inner sleeve: Published by Kobalt Music Group Ltd. The matrix number in the runout on each side shows the catalogue number as DH00214, but the number printed on rear and spine of the sleeve is DH00224. There is an incorrect Optimal Media job number scratched out on each side.