Radio Free Alice have taken on “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” for triple j’s Like a Version, flipping the glossy pop hit into something far grittier and unmistakably their own.
The Melbourne band flipped the 2010 hit – originally by Usher – into a gritty, guitar-driven song, trading glossy production for sharp post-punk edges. While the original leans heavily into dance-pop and Europop influences, Radio Free Alice reframed the song with a darker tone, pushing it firmly into their own sonic lane.
Vocalist Noah Learmonth said they chose the song because it was a “fun challenge” to flip.
“We’ve always felt that good songs don’t need good covers,” he said. “It’s like, bad songs that need good covers. This song is like the ugliest duckling of bad songs, I think. So we thought it was a fun challenge to see if we could turn it into a swan. If that was physically possible.”
Watch their cover below.
While in the studio, the band also performed “Rule 31”, which they released in November. Produced with Peter Kapis (Interpol, The National), the song is rife with urgency, possibly a symptom of the narrow window they had to produce it, but it’s also symbolic of the breakneck pace the band has moved, and continues to move, up the charts and onto stages worldwide.
In August, they released their third EP, Empty Words. Their previous, Polyester, has racked up over 3 million streams since its release in 2024. It ranked fourth on Rolling Stone AU/NZ‘s Best Australian EPs of 2024. They followed that launch with support slots on The Killers’ Australia tour and a co-headline national run with Big Special.
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Their self-titled debut EP was also nominated for Best Independent Punk Album or EP at the 2025 AIR Awards, and the band was among the names in the Readers’ Choice category at the 2025 Rolling Stone AU/NZ Awards.
