The band began in 2010, initially as a solo project of Ellie Rowsell, with the name taken from a short story by Angela Carter. She was joined by guitarist Joff Oddie and later by Joel Amey and Theo Ellis. They released a self-titled EP, Wolf Alice in 2012 as well as a single called "Leaving You" which gained airplay from BBC Radio 1 and featured in NME's 'Radar' section.
They then toured with Peace, recorded a session for Huw Stephens' Radio 1 show in January, and released their first physical single "Fluffy" in February 2013 on the Chess Club label. Their second single "Bros", released in May, is about friendship and is one of the first songs Rowsell wrote and the band usually played it during their early stages.
2017–2020: Visions of a Life, Mercury Prize Win
In June 2017, Wolf Alice released the lead single "Yuk Foo" off their second studio album, Visions of a Life. They released three more singles, "Don't Delete the Kisses", "Beautifully Unconventional", and "Heavenward", before the release of their album on 28 September. In 2018, they also released "Formidable Cool", "Sadboy" and "Space & Time" as singles from the album.
In September 2018, the band won the Mercury Prize for their album Visions of a Life
2021–present: Blue Weekend
On 15 February 2021, the band's website was updated to show a looping video of an eye, with the heading "The Last Man on Earth". On 22 February 2021, the band announced that their single "The Last Man on Earth" would be released on 24 February 2021, and would debut on Annie Mac's show on BBC Radio 1. The release of the single was backed by the announcement of their third studio album, Blue Weekend, which was released on 4 June 2021. The second single from the album, "Smile", was released on 20 April 2021.
Blue Weekend received widespread critical acclaim, and was nominated for the 2021 Mercury Prize. On release, music publication The Forty-Five called Blue Weekend "a ballsy idyll of feeling: the sound of a band satisfying themselves rather than proving themselves, and completely filling the space they’ve carved out over the years."
Wolf Alice won the 2022 Brit Award for Group of the Year.
On October 29th 2021, the band released Blue Weekend: Tour Deluxe which includes four live versions of tracks from the album ('Smile', 'How Can I Make it OK', 'Safe From Heartbreak', and 'The Last Man on Earth') as well as a live cover of 'Bobby' by Alex G.
On 5 May 2022, the band released a lullaby version of "The Last Man on Earth" as a single and announced Blue Lullaby, an EP featuring reworked lullaby versions of five tracks from Blue Weekend, which was subsequently released on 24 June 2022. During the summer of 2022, the band played 17 shows supporting Harry Styles' Love On Tour, the first date in Hamburg on the 26th of June and the last show in Lisbon on the 31st of July.
Official site
Swallowtail
Wolf Alice Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As we fell, I never thought we'd hit this hard
It's not right, but it's too late for that now
Swallow fear, and head straight down into the ground
And head straight down into the crowd
The crowd that you've been leaning on
To the crowd
Swallowtail, I met you up atop The Shard
As we fell, I never thought we'd hit this hard
It's not right, but it's too late for that now
Swallow fear, and head straight down into the ground
And head straight down into the crowd
The crowd that you've been leaning on
To the crowd
The crowd that you believed were gone
Swallowtail, I met you up atop The Shard
As we fell, I never thought we'd hit this hard
It's not right, but it's too late for that now
Swallow fear, and head straight down into the ground
And head straight down into the crowd
The crowd that you've been leaning on
To the crowd
The crowd that you believed were gone
In Wolf Alice's song "Swallowtail," the lyrics depict a moment of intense emotion as the singer recounts a fateful encounter with someone they call "Swallowtail." The two met atop The Shard, a famous skyscraper in London. As they fell, the singer never thought the impact would be so hard, suggesting that this encounter ended up having a profound impact on them. The repetition of the phrase "It's not right, but it's too late for that now" suggests a sense of regret or resignation for the singer, possibly related to the intensity of their feelings towards Swallowtail, or to the consequences of their meeting.
The final lines of the song, "And head straight down into the crowd / The crowd that you've been leaning on / To the crowd / The crowd that you believed were gone" suggest that Swallowtail has relied on the support of a community or group of people who they believed had disappeared. These lines can be interpreted in different ways, but they seem to suggest that the singer and Swallowtail share a sense of isolation and loss.
Overall, "Swallowtail" is a hauntingly beautiful song that speaks to the complexities of human relationships and emotions. The imagery of falling from a great height, the repetition of key phrases, and the use of symbolism and metaphor all combine to create a powerful and evocative piece of music.
Line by Line Meaning
Swallowtail, I met you up atop The Shard
The singer met someone named Swallowtail on top of a tall building called The Shard
As we fell, I never thought we'd hit this hard
Despite falling, the singer didn't expect the situation to be so difficult
It's not right, but it's too late for that now
The situation is wrong, but it's too late to change it
Swallow fear, and head straight down into the ground
Overcome fear and face whatever fate may come
And head straight down into the crowd
Face the reality of the situation with the people around
The crowd that you've been leaning on
The people that Swallowtail relied on previously
To the crowd
With the people around
The crowd that you believed were gone
Swallowtail thought the people who could support them were no longer there
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ellen Ciara Rowsell, Joel Donald Scott Amey, Jonathan David Oddie, Theodore Joseph Ellis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind