Ellie Rowsell Is Done Coming Of Age

Now that she’s no longer blonde, Ellie Rowsell is feeling more like herself. Originally, the decision to go brunette was more of a necessity than an aesthetic choice (years of bleaching left the Wolf Alice front woman’s hair fried), but she doesn’t see herself going back anytime soon. “Maybe's [that’s] something to look forward to, I don't know. I'm happy just where I am right now,” she tells NYLON.

Rowsell’s soft humming radiates through the hallway as she brings me up to her suite at The William Vale, before realizing she’s stopped at the wrong door. “I’ve done that once already,” she says. Further down the hall in a still-immaculate room, Rowsell thoughtfully pours me a glass of carbonated spring water as she tells me about her recent 33rd-birthday trip to Mexico City, where her visit to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul was cut short by a rainy-season downpour.

It feels fated that we’re meeting so soon after her latest trip around the sun — once raconteurs of the coming-of-age experience, Wolf Alice’s new album The Clearing, out Aug. 22, feels more mature than their previous work. Yes, musings on aging, motherhood, and family indicate the group has entered a new phase of life, but it’s Rowsell’s newfound sense of confidence, which comes through in her raucous, demanding-to-be-heard vocals, that makes The Clearing Wolf Alice’s most self-assured project to date. So where did this self-esteem boost come from? “I think, years of not being confident,” she says. “It's actually exhausting being not confident.” Rowsell fidgets in her chair, clearly still getting used to talking about herself this way, but I take it as her growing willingness to be seen for the reserved rock star she is.

Fittingly, The Clearing marks Rowsell’s first album release in her 30s, a realization that initially catches her off-guard but quickly evolves into pride. “I think, when I was younger, incorrectly, I would've been like, ‘Oh, can I be in a band when I’m…?’” she says, trailing off. “But I'm very happy to be releasing an album in my 30s. I feel like I maybe slightly know what I'm doing.”

In preparation for the new project, Wolf Alice made its long-awaited debut at Primavera Sound in June. “I think [Primavera’s] lineups are some of the best I've seen, and I was always like, ‘Damn, why do they not like us?’” she says with her dry British sensibility. “We actually didn't even get asked again [this year] — someone dropped out, and we filled in. But just to be there, it felt good.” She was much warier when the group snagged a Sunday afternoon slot at Glastonbury later that month, worried that the crowd would be “over it” by Day 3. But the gig turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it allowed the group to work out the kinks of their new show without the pressure of perfection. “I don't know how well we actually played, but it felt really special,” Rowsell says.

Of course, those sets were just a primer for what’s to come when Wolf Alice takes The Clearing on the road this fall. It’s been a minute since their last tour, which wrapped in 2022 after a supporting stint on Harry Styles’ Love On Tour. Through that “really, really special experience” Rowsell learned a lot about showmanship and commanding a room, lessons she plans to take with her on the upcoming dates. “He's a super lovely guy,” she says of Styles. “Really welcoming [and] passionate.”

When I try to get more details about the upcoming shows, the lead vocalist doesn’t have many teasers to offer. “I feel like the show is going to be exciting, but nothing extra on top of it. What am I supposed to be doing? It's just going to be a show, I don't know how to answer that.” Translation: You’ll just have to catch the concert for yourself.

Photographs by Harriet Bols.