Radio Free Alice
Australia’s rising post-punk torchbearers Radio Free Alice have announced their third EP, Empty Words, arriving August 20, 2025 — and with it comes a hypnotic, existential new single, “Toyota Camry”, premiered last night on BBC 6 Music and now available everywhere, alongside a surreal, lo-fi music video directed by longtime collaborator Finn Robilliard.
The track — shimmering with wiry guitars, hooky backing vocals, and a dose of suburban melancholy — is the band’s second preview of Empty Words, a four-track release recorded across London, Bristol, and Connecticut with a veritable who’s who of indie producers. “Toyota Camry,” recorded with Interpol and Bloc Party producer Peter Katis, channels the unease of a haunted adolescence, filtered through the nostalgic sheen of 1980s post-punk revivalism.
Frontman Noah Learmonth explains that the track draws on British theorist Mark Fisher’s eerie observation that “everyone is bored but nothing is boring.” He recalls recording in a creaky New England house that felt lifted straight from the animated horror film Monster House. “There were Polaroids of bands like Interpol stuffed in kitchen drawers,” Learmonth says. “The place already felt haunted. It was fitting for a song about lost futures and the past’s lingering grip.”
Empty Words also includes the driving title track — previously released in March — and two unreleased cuts: “Regret” (produced by Ali Chant of Dry Cleaning and Perfume Genius) and “Chinese Restaurant”. Together, the EP continues Radio Free Alice’s confident evolution: fusing the shadowy introspection of Joy Division and the rhythmic flair of The Smiths with a distinctly modern flair.
The new music arrives ahead of the band’s first headline North American tour, following a breakout 2024 that included UK festival buzz, sold-out London dates, a co-headline run with Big Special, and support slots for The Killers across Australia. This fall, they’ll hit the road in the U.S. with stops that include two sold-out NYC shows and a slot at Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta.
Formed on Gadigal Land (Sydney) in 2020 and now based in Naarm/Melbourne, Radio Free Alice — Noah Learmonth (vocals/guitar), Jules Paradiso (guitar), Michael Phillips (bass/sax), and Lochie Dowd (drums) — have quickly become one of Australia’s most exciting exports. Their 2024 EP Polyester racked up millions of streams and drew praise from BBC Radio 1, NME, Clash, and even earned them the ultimate Anton Newcombe seal of approval: “not shit.”
With Empty Words, Radio Free Alice sharpen their songwriting even further — still steeped in nostalgia, but never stuck in it. These are haunted love songs for a haunted generation, carried by hooks, honesty, and a Camry with too much history in the back seat.
Watch “Toyota Camry” here
See full tour dates here
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