Radio Free Alice unveil their sonically iridescent third EP ‘Empty Words’ as they continue breaking records on their European and US tour – Backseat Mafia

We have been closely following the rapid ascent of Radio Free Alice ever since premiering their video for ‘I (Gotta Fall In Love)’ back in 2023. This was followed by their signing  to the massive and highly prestigious WME Agency for worldwide representation after their signing locally to the illustrious Double Drummer label. This is band that has been garnering world wide attention with their delicious brand of new wave rock that matches a degree of swagger and pose with an ability to craft pulse quickening rock. Having just been named by a prestigious UK music magazine as one of a 100 bands to watch in 2025 they today unveil their third EP, ‘Empty Words’ and it’s a vital piece of louche and insouciant indie rock that swaggers with attitude.

The EP opens with the title track ‘Empty Words’ (released as the EP’s first single) and it’s business as usual. Snotty, swaggering and brim full of attitude as usual, the track has an angular scything swing with its muscular stabs of sound and the passionate visceral vocals. Redolent at times of Interpol mixed in with a heavy dose of The Fall and The Birthday Party, it’s antipodean Antarctic new wave at its very best.

On ‘Empty Words’, the band says:

‘Empty Words’ came out of a jam like most of our songs do. It was in some downtime between shows while we were in the UK last year. Lyrically it’s about the feeling of social stagnation that I think a lot of young people in our generation feel.

There is certainly a degree of anguish in the delivery: raw and visceral as the lyrics reveal:

I could kill them with my empty words or I could save them

The accompanying video captures the enigmatic band at their disdainful best, performing and swaggering with a sneery insouciance. It’s only rock’n’roll but I love it:

Second track and second single ‘Toyota Camry’ maintains the creative momentum. The eponymous vehicle itself is something I always associate with elderly parents and Uber drivers: a sort of cheap, safe neutral-coloured epitome of mundanity as you could ever get. You can rest assured that the single is quite the opposite. The vocal are urgent with a backing chorus and a soaring chorus above thundering guitars, driving forward at full speed. It’s an assured single that captures this band’s exponential growth.

It comes with a video directed and edited by Finn Robilliard with the band driving around in the eponymous car and performing with their usual über cool laconic style:

Third track ‘Regret’ patters along with a bright sparkling beat and rampant, melodic, expressive guitars before the distinctive yearning vocals enter. There are elements of Morrissey in the delivery – yearning and melodic, with an extraordinary range that veers into the falsetto with ease.

Final track ‘Chinese Restaurant’ travels on a muscular base and chiming guitars and the vocals channelling a little Bowie and Ferry. The delivery is wide and expansive, the themes a bleak frustration at the state of the world:

marry me in a chinese restaurant
white light, sulfate
couldn’t keep me up
these old men
you know we can kick them out
You know we can kick them out

Radio Free Alice frontman Noah Learmonth shares:

The idea for Chinese Restaurant came while touring the UK, surrounded by this overwhelming sense of living in the past. Every venue had a punny name nodding to some bygone legend-places like ‘EBGBS’ (a riff on CBGB) or ‘The Stoned Rose’. Driving around the UK in this tour van felt like wandering through the aftermath of a house party that was definitely over, but no one seemed capable of moving on from.

The video is a fuzzy collection of images of the band at work and at play:

‘Empty Words’ is yet another brick in the wall of Radio Free’s impressive collection of vital, urgent post punk pop that is visceral and exciting, placing them at the forefront of the Australian music scene.

Well deserving of the series of sold out gigs that are currently taking place across Europe and the US – with dates still ahead and the recent addition of UK Festival appearances. Be quick.

Fri 22 Aug – Reading and Leeds Festival – Leeds, UK
Sun 24 Aug – Reading and Leeds Festival – Reading, UK
Wed 27 Aug – EKKO – Utrecht, NL SELLING FAST
Sat 30 Aug – Manchester Psych Festival (YES Pink Room) – Manchester, UK 
Mon 1 Sept – Schokoladen – Berlin, DE SOLD OUT
Fri 5 Sept – Supersonic Records – Paris, FR SELLING FAST
Sun 7 Sept – The Monarch – Toronto, ON
Mon 8 Sept – Casa del Popolo – Montréal, QC
Wed 10 Sept – The Red Room at Cafe 939 – Boston, MA
Fri 12 Sept – Union Pool – New York, NY SOLD OUT
Sat 13 Sept – Night Club 101 [late night show] – New York, NY SELLING FAST
Tue 16 Sept – Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA
Wed 17 Sept – Songbyrd Music House – Washington, DC
Fri 19 Sept – Purgatory At The Masquerade (Shaky Knees Late Night Show) – Atlanta, GA
Sat 20 Sept – Shaky Knees Music Festival – Atlanta, GA
Sun 21 Sept – The Basement – Nashville, TN
Tue 23 Sept – Schubas Tavern – Chicago, IL SELLING FAST
Wed 24 Sept – 7th St Entry – Minneapolis, MN
Wed 8 Oct – El Cid – Los Angeles, CA
Fri 10 Oct – Eli’s Mile High Club – San Francisco, CA

*supporting Bodega

*supporting Bodega

Feature Photograph: Finn Robilliard

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