Melbourne’s Radio Free Alice have capped off a whirlwind year with the release of their highly anticipated debut album, What’s In Between.
Out today via Atlantic Records, the 11-track record marks a major milestone for the four-piece, who have spent much of 2026 building an international following through sold-out shows, festival appearances and a string of increasingly ambitious singles.
Made up of frontman Noah Learmonth, guitarist Jules Paradiso, bassist Michael Phillips and drummer Lochie Dowd, the band – who featured in our Future of Music 2026 list – recorded the album across three continents, working with producers Peter Katis (Interpol, The National), Ewan Pearson (Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand) and Finn Billingham.
Blending angular guitars, new wave influences and Learmonth’s often self-deprecating lyricism, What’s In Between explores the uncertainty of growing up, navigating relationships and figuring out where you belong.
“I don’t know if I’m an especially joyous person. I wish I was more joyous. But I want to be somebody that makes joyous music,” Learmonth said. “I think it’s a self-deprecating record but, if I can say so myself, I think there’s something very charming about the album. If the album was a person, it’s the sort of person I’d want to be.”
The album arrives alongside the official music video for “The Intersection”, a track that Learmonth described as one of the band’s most openly melodic releases yet. “‘The Intersection’ is a story about someone keeping up a relationship in the outside world while receiving treatment in a mental hospital. It’s a love story, really. It’s a love song,” he explained.
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“It’s definitely our poppiest song to date and a part of that makes us a little nervous… but I think we find that exciting. We’re a band that doesn’t want to be afraid or insecure about being boldly melodic.”
Elsewhere on the record, “Undressed” tackles the influence of tabloid culture, while “Bottleshops” follows a financially struggling thirty-something living in their parents’ basement. “Four Leaf Clover” finds its narrator searching for some good fortune, before closing track “Waiting” reflects on the frustration of a life that never quite moves forward.
The release follows several months of singles, including “Crying With You” and “Big Ideas”, the latter featuring Rachel Brown.
When we caught up with the band for our Future of Music series earlier this year, they were already looking ahead to this moment. “2026 will be the year our debut album comes out, which is extremely exciting for us,” they told us in June.
Radio Free Alice have also been finding unconventional ways to connect with fans, staging a series of surprise, free performances across the globe. Recent Australian pop-ups included a Sydney Inner West laneway show that attracted more than 800 people and a performance inside Melbourne’s former Pentridge Prison.
Similar shows have taken place beneath a railway bridge in London, outside a gallery in Los Angeles and in an Austin backyard, while the band have spent the past week playing intimate record-store sets across the United States.
Next week, the band will embark on an extensive UK and European tour, with appearances at Noise Pop Festival, Innings Music Festival and Treefort Music Festival already confirmed for 2027.
Radio Free Alice’s What’s In Between is out now.
