Fresh from a sold-out BBC Introducing showcase at King Tut’s, Paisley outfit Radiola arrive with Version of Life, a debut album that seems determined to keep its footing slightly out of reach.
There’s plenty here to anchor the record: driving indie rock, Americana warmth, post-punk abrasion and a strong melodic instinct. But Radiola are far more interested in what happens when those ingredients collide. Produced by Dave Muir and mixed and mastered at Chime Studio by Ross McGowan, the album moves with a restless energy, shifting shape without ever feeling like genre-hopping for its own sake.
The reference points are broad, The Beatles, Wilco, Fontaines D.C. and beyond. but Radiola uses them less as signposts than starting points. Opener This Song Is False throws the listener straight into the deep end, setting up a record where no-wave textures can sit comfortably alongside alternative country, while flashes of pop melody prevent things from becoming overly abstract.
That balance comes through particularly well on This Is What You Get (For Falling Love). Its relaxed full-band arrangement gives the track an effortless swagger, with confident guitar work and an easy melodic flow that brings Dawes to mind. It’s a reminder that for all Radiola’s appetite for experimentation, there’s a solid songwriting core holding everything together.
Then there’s the title track, stretching beyond the 13-minute mark and giving Radiola plenty of room to get strange. Beginning quietly, Version of Life gradually accumulates crackles, rattles and droning textures before swelling into something far more expansive, eventually landing on a Stone Roses-esque instrumental coda. It’s an indulgent move, perhaps, but one that makes sense within an album so interested in following an idea wherever it leads.
At the other end, closer tethered brings things back towards warmer country-rock territory, rounding out a record built on contrasts. Across Version of Life, themes of love, life and death are approached from shifting perspectives, with the music itself reflecting that sense of movement.
The result is a debut that feels curious rather than calculated. Radiola wears their influences openly, but they aren’t interested in simply recreating them. Instead, they pull disparate sounds into the same orbit and see what happens. Version of Life is ambitious, occasionally unruly and full of ideas – but, crucially, it never loses sight of the song.
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