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Radio Free Alice have shared a new single featuring Water From Your Eyes‘ Rachel Brown – listen to ‘Big Ideas’ below.
The collaborative song is the latest preview of the Australian band and NME 100 alumni‘s debut studio album, ‘What’s In Between’, which is released on October 30 via Atlantic.¥
“From early on, we felt that a second vocal would work well with the song, a kind of call and response,” explained frontman Noah Learmonth of the team-up.
“We’ve loved Water From Your Eyes for years, and had gone to their show when they came to Melbourne. We felt like Rachel would be perfect; they have such an interesting, distinctive voice.”
In the contemplative track’s first verse, Learmonth sings: “Try not to go too berserk/ But she’s been sleeping with the guy from work/ At what point do you admit your life’s not going to plan one bit.”
Later, he tells the listener he’d “rather be stuck in hell than stuck in Melbourne with reports to sell” before Brown joins in and trades vocals: “Honey won’t you rescue me/ I got a barb in my eye/ I got a thorn in my side/ Don’t get any big ideas (Pick it up and pack it in)/ She only let you in to get your things/ (Pick it up and pack it in)...”
‘Big Ideas’ is accompanied by a ’90s-looking official music video, directed and edited by Owen Schatz. The song follows previous singles ‘Kick In The Shins’ and ‘Crying For You’.
Speaking to NME at Reading Festival this summer, Radio Free Alice discussed what to expect from their debut LP. “Looking back, I’ve always been a sucker for anything ‘coming of age’,” said Learmonth of the LP’s lyrics. “A lot of my favourite movies growing up were that. There is a theme of ‘dispossessed young person’, amongst others.”
Elsewhere in the chat, they recalled opening for Geese in Australia. “It was crazy to see Geese in person,” Learmonth told NME. “Cameron Winter and Geese have been on my phone incessantly, so to see him in person and be talking to him backstage was so strange, so topical. That was sick. It was amazing to share a stage with the most talked-about band in the world.”
Radio Free Alice are set to embark on a UK and European headline tour next month – find any remaining tickets here. See the full schedule below.
NOVEMBER
04 — Copenhagen, DK — Ideal Bar at Vega
06 — Berlin, DE — Frannz Club
07 — Hamburg, DE — Turmzimmer
08 — Cologne, DE — Helios37
10 — Amsterdam, NL — Tolhuistuin
11 — Brussels, BE — Botanique Rotonde
12 — Paris, FR — Point Ephémère
14 — Bristol, UK — Thekla
15 — Birmingham, UK — O2 Institute2
17 — London, UK — Electric Ballroom
18 — Leeds, UK — Brudenell Social Club
20 — Manchester, UK — Academy 2
21 — Glasgow, UK — Art School
22 — Belfast, UK — Ulster Sports Club
24 — Dublin, IE — Button Factory
27 – Barcelona, ES — Sidecar
29 – Paris, FR — Point Ephémère
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Musicians from Talk Talk reunited for a one-off show celebrating the 40th anniversary of classic album ‘The Colour Of Spring’, and brought out Ride’s Mark Gardener, Ed Harcourt, Fyfe Dangerfield and more.
Check out what went down below, along with footage and the full setlist.
The gig took place on Saturday September 5 at the O2 Forum Kentish Town, and included a selection of songs from Talk Talk’s seminal album ‘The Colour of Spring’, in celebration of the milestone, along with some other classics from the band’s discography.
The band’s third studio album was released in February 1986 and represented a major transition for them musically – leaving behind the synthpop sound that had made them successful, and now embracing a more experimental, jazz and art pop-influenced approach.
For the gig on Saturday, musicians including Simon Brenner, the group’s founding keyboardist, as well as Phil Ramocon and Ian Curnow came together and paid tribute to their singer Mark Hollis, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 64.
They were joined on stage by Sophie Barker (Zero 7), Gale Paridjanian (Turin Brakes), Tim Eisenburg (Sweet Billy Pilgrim), Chris Hampson and Jacob Brown, as well as guest collaborations from Ed Harcourt and Guillemots’ Fyfe Dangerfield, and Ride’s Mark Gardener.
Both Harcourt and Dangerfield helped open the night with their own solo sets, and later returned to the stage during the main Talk Talk set.
To kick the headline set off, Elsenberg joined the band for ‘Today’ and ‘Talk Talk’, before later coming back for ‘I Don’t Believe In You’, and ‘The Party’s Over’.
Mark Gardener took to the stage to help break out ‘Living In Another World’ and ‘The Rainbow’, Fyfe Dangerfield joined for ‘Time It’s Time’, and Mark Harcourt helped perform ‘I Believe In You’ and ‘The Colour Of Spring’ – the latter of which being from Hollis’ 1998 solo album.
Sophie Barker joined in later in the set, and took on ‘Happiness Is Easy’, ‘Tomorrow Started’, ‘Such A Shame’, and fan favourite ‘It’s My Life’, while Olly Knights sang ‘Give It Up’. The set closed with ‘Life’s What You Make It’, which featured all guest performers.
‘Today’ (with Tim Elsenberg)
‘Talk Talk’ (with Tim Elsenberg)
‘Living in Another World’ (with Mark Gardener)
‘I Don’t Believe in You’ (with Tim Elsenberg)
‘Time It’s Time’ (with Fyfe Dangerfield)
‘The Rainbow’ (with Mark Gardener)
‘I Believe in You’ (with Ed Harcourt)
‘The Colour of Spring’ (Mark Hollis song, with Ed Harcourt)
‘Happiness Is Easy’ (with Sophie Barker)
‘Tomorrow Started’ (with Sophie Barker)
‘Give It Up’ (with Olly Knights)
‘Such a Shame’ (with Sophie Barker)
‘It’s My Life’ (with Sophie Barker)
‘The Party’s Over’ (with Tim Elsenberg)
‘Life’s What You Make It’
The gig this weekend took place shortly after Talk Talk released a 40th anniversary reissue of ‘The Colour Of Spring’, cut at half speed.
Before then, the band had already released a half-speed reissue of ‘Spirit Of Eden’, overseen by Mark Hollis’ son Charlie, as well as the band’s drummer Lee Harris and producer Matt Colton.
In an obituary for Mark Hollis, NME wrote: “Citing influences such as Debussy, Bartok, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, however, Hollis clearly had ambitions beyond the frivolous pop music of the early ‘80s. He shifted towards a more layered and organic style, improvising with an expanded band to create Talk Talk’s celebrated, 2 million-selling third album ‘The Colour Of Spring’, a Top Ten album in 1986 on the back of the prowling pianos and soaring guitar riffs of international hit ‘Life’s What You Make It’.”
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