Radio Free Alice, the rapidly rising four-piece from Melbourne, have been teasing their debut album release for the duration of the year, and ‘Lunch Money’ may have just been released as the album’s first single.

The group has seemingly had a non-stop run of performing, having had months of sold-out shows in the UK, to opening for Geese in Australia, moving to the US for festivals like the Governor’s Ball in New York, to their current festival run, which takes them around the globe all over again. Seeing this, it's hard to believe they have any time to write and record these days. Frontman Noah Learmonth explains that "[Lunch Money] was one of those songs that came together pretty instantly… I remember us writing it on the stage at the empty venue, all with jackets, scarves and gloves on". He’s referencing the soundcheck of their Nottingham show, at the end of their UK tour of 2025. The single is the group’s first release with the New York-based Atlantic Records, and is a promising sign for fans hoping for an album later this year.

As the song itself starts, it seems to carry a happier and lighter feeling than the band’s usual sound, with an upbeat rhythm and shimmering guitar; the painful lyrics come in, knocking the listener back to the song’s true story. Radio Free Alice always executes their narrative lyrics well, and 'Lunch Money' is no exception - a story of "the one that got away", where Learmonth sings of a schoolboy crush who has since left the country. The song is about the narrator who is left behind, dreaming of "your arms around me", a feeling that listeners will be able to relate to. 

Learmonth’s voice carries this heavy emotion in his characteristic, perfectly imperfect way, and paired with the lively and catchy tune, the combination makes for a deeply bittersweet, teenage-love-fuelled angst. The lyricism of "Cynical boys on the back of the bus" and "Was it the work or the money that stole your class?" contrasts with the dreamier, confessional lines such as "When I come along, I know that you’d hold me for days" matches the yearning listeners will relate to when reminiscing about their own "one that got away".

Daisy Cumpson

 @dasc.camera

Image: 'Lunch Money’ Official Single Cover

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