Blue Weekend is the third studio album by English rock band Wolf Alice, released on 4 June 2021 through Dirty Hit. Their first studio album in four years, Blue Weekend was preceded by four singles—"The Last Man on Earth", "Smile", "No Hard Feelings" and "How Can I Make It OK?". The album received acclaim from music critics, with many naming it the band's best work, and was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 2021. It was their final album with Dirty Hit before signing with Columbia Records.
Release On 24 February 2021, Wolf Alice announced the album's title and initial release date of 11 June, alongside the release of lead single "The Last Man on Earth". On 3 May 2021, the band announced that they would be bringing the album's release earlier by one week, to 4 June.
Promotion Singles Blue Weekend was preceded by four singles. "The Last Man on Earth" was released on 24 February 2021 as the album's lead single. It was premiered by Annie Mac on her eponymous BBC Radio 1 Radio program, where Ellie Rowsell and Theo Ellis from the band co-hosted with her. The music video was released on YouTube an hour after Mac's radio show started.
"Smile" was released on 20 April 2021 as the album's second single. It was premiered the same way as its predecessor.
"No Hard Feelings" was released on 11 May 2021, an hour earlier than the previous two on Zane Lowe's Apple Music show, with the music video again released on YouTube an hour afterwards. "How Can I Make It OK?" was released on 3 June 2021 as the fourth and last single of the album along with a music video on YouTube.
On 10 June 2021, Wolf Alice premiered a short film directed by Jordan Hemingway at an acoustic performance at Soho Picturehouse. Including previously released music videos and new material shot for the film, the film showcases album tracks performed while set during a night at a London bar. The film was later released via Wolf Alice's YouTube channel on 14 July 2022 as Blue Weekend (Film).
On , 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 the album. This was subsequently released on .
Critical reception
Blue Weekend received acclaim from music critics, many of whom described it as their best album. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating of 100, the album received an average score of 91, based on 19 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". It was ranked as the third highest-rated album of 2021 on the website at the time of release.
Blue Weekend was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2021, and multiple NME Awards in 2022.
Accolades +Blue Weekend on year-end lists Publication List Rank Albumism The 100 Best Albums of 2021 The AU Review The 40 Best Albums of 2021 DIY DIY’S Best Albums Of 2021 Far Out Magazine The 50 Best Albums of 2021 Gaffa Her er årets 20 bedste internationale album The Guardian The 50 Best Albums of 2021 NME The 50 best albums of 2021 Nothing but Hope and Passion NBHAP's 50 Best Albums Of 2021 OOR Dit Zijn De 20 Beste Albums Van 2021 The Skinny The Skinny's Top Ten Albums of 2021
Commercial performance Blue Weekend debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 36,182 copies sold in its first week, becoming Wolf Alice's first number-one album. It was the biggest-selling album of 2021 in UK independent record shops.
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of Blue Weekend.
Wolf Alice Ellie Rowsell – vocals, guitar, piano, bass, programming, Mellotron, synth, Wurlitzer, string arrangement Joff Oddie – guitar, piano, backing vocals, glock, programming, synth, claps, electric upright bass, bass, tenor resonator, 12-string, classical guitar, acoustic guitar Theo Ellis – bass, programming Joel Amey – drums, percussion, synth, backing vocals, guitar, Stylophone, programming, claps
Additional musicians Owen Pallett – string arrangement, violin, viola Iain Berryman – glasses, programming, keys, trumpet Joel Workman – electric upright bass Michael Peter Olsen – cello Markus Dravs – programming, synth
Technical Markus Dravs – production Iain Berryman – engineering, additional production Joel Workman – engineering assistance ; additional engineering Charlie Andrew – vocal production ; additional vocal production ; additional vocal recording Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing Matt Wolach – mixing assistance Ted Jensen – mastering
Artwork Jordan Hemingway – creative direction, photography Jamie Reid – art direction Aiden Miller – design
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for Blue Weekend Chart (2021) Peakposition French Physical Albums (SNEP) 180
Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for Blue Weekend Chart (2021) Position UK Albums (OCC) 71
Certifications
Release history + Release history and formats for Blue Weekend Region Date Format Label Catalogue Various 4 June 2021 Dirty Hit Australia CD LIB226CD LP DH1058 LP Blue Weekend received several transparent and colour variant releases in Australia: Green Vinyl: Transparent Red Vinyl: Transparent Yellow Vinyl: New Zealand CD Universal Music New Zealand LIB226CD LP DH1058 LP Blue Weekend received several transparent and colour variant releases in New Zealand: Green Vinyl: Transparent Red Vinyl: Transparent Yellow Vinyl:
References
External links