Wolf Alice are in a class of their own when it comes to the Mercury Prize.
Last month, they received their fourth consecutive nomination for the coveted music award thanks to their new album, The Clearing.
That’s something no-one else has ever achieved. Not Arctic Monkeys, not Radiohead, not Pulp. What’s more, they’ve done it with their first four albums.
“For some reason, it makes me feel really anxious,” admits singer Ellie Rowsell, speaking to the BBC from Nashville, where the band are in final rehearsals for their world tour.
She’s speaking from experience. When Wolf Alice won the Mercury Prize for their second album, Visions of a Life, in 2018, Ellie struggled to gain her composure at the podium.
“I’m so nervous,” she exclaimed, her hands shaking, before bandmate Theo Ellis stepped in to finish the speech.
To fans, Rowsell’s jitters might have seemed strange. On stage, the singer is normally a fireball of intensity, screaming punky anthems like Yuk Foo and commanding the spotlight with magnetic charisma.
But their more intimate songs portray her as an habitual outsider who doubts her own abilities and motivations.
On Thorns, the pensive opening song of The Clearing, she even berates herself for “making a song and dance” about the break-up that inspired Wolf Alice’s previous album, Blue Weekend.
“I don’t know if I’m shy. I think I’m socially inept,” she recently told Canadian DJ Tara Sloane. “I’m very confident in some things, but I’m not the loudest person in the room.”
Her nerves about attending another awards show is understandable, then. But Rowsell is also “grateful and happy” to be included on the Mercury shortlist again. They will find out if they have won when the ceremony takes place on Thursday.
“We take albums pretty seriously,” says guitarist Joff Oddie, speaking from his home in London (he’s sitting out the US tour because his partner is about to give birth to their first child).
“In our world, a good album is one of the highest forms of art. People can do good songs, or a great live performance, and those are all great signposts. But, for me, a really great album is an incredible feat… if you can pull it off.”
That’s why the band have signed up as ambassadors for National Album Day, which takes place on Saturday, 18 October, with special events around the UK and limited edition vinyl re-releases of classic records by Liam Gallagher, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop.
Asked to name their favourite albums, however, and Wolf Alice are evasive.
“I don’t know what my absolute top three would be,” says Rowsell. “But if I can re-listen to an album top to bottom over and over again, that’s a telltale sign – because it’s hard to keep your attention.”
