Radio Free Alice Embrace the Past as They Look to the Future on New EP "Empty Words"

Photo by Harry Baker

Australian new wave/post-punk band Radio Free Alice have released their new EP Empty Words, cementing themselves as one of the most exciting rising acts to watch.

Wistful beyond its years, Empty Words has a lot to say. The EP is full of nostalgic riffs and flashes of the past, but it undoubtedly moves toward the future. As frontman Noah Learmonth shares, “The whole EP is in some way connected to this feeling that I’ve had my whole life. That the world’s this museum for the past we didn’t even live through.”

That sense of longing is woven throughout. The title track kicks off with a blistering guitar riff, its lyrics taking aim at performative activism. It’s followed by previous single “Toyota Camry,” a track haunted by lost futures and the weight of memory.

The latter half of the EP reaches into new territory, with two new songs, “Regret” and “Chinese Restaurant.” 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.”

That restless atmosphere comes alive in the “Chinese Restaurant” visualizer, which looks plucked straight from the early 2000s. There’s honesty throughout the EP, as Radio Free Alice tap into a generational longing – perhaps not for the past itself, but for the imagined permanence it represents.

The band will perform at Reading and Leeds Festival this weekend, and head to the US and Canada in September. Check out the full list of their dates here.