LAKE MALICE ANNOUNCE DEBUT ALBUM
Rising UK alternative powerhouse Lake Malice have officially announced the impending arrival of their highly anticipated debut album, I Wanna Know If It’s Real, which is scheduled to drop on 11th September. This upcoming record promises a genre-warping collision of alternative rock, hyperpop, and modern metal, perfectly capturing the chaotic emotional overload of growing up in a chronically online world.
To celebrate the album announcement, the band has also revealed that a brand-new single titled ‘Ghost In A Hell’ will arrive on 10th June, strategically landing just ahead of their monumental appearance at Download Festival.
I Wanna Know If It’s Real seamlessly blends crushing riffs, explosive hooks, and emotionally raw songwriting. Throughout the tracklist, the band explores heavy themes of social media addiction, AI anxiety, nostalgia, trauma, identity, success, and the increasingly blurred line between authenticity and performance in modern culture. By balancing vulnerability with sheer sonic violence, the album delivers a sound equally shaped by underground heavy music and internet-era hyperstimulation—emotionally charged, unpredictable, and unapologetically current.
Singer Alice says, “We wrote this album thinking about how we wanted something autobiographical, but also able to capture a moment in history and the feelings of a generation. As millennials, we’ve gone through such a unique and drastic change in how we manage our social connections and how self-worth is measured, and we’re now also witnessing the advent of AI, which is a crucial part of what inspired this record. In a matter of a few decades, we lived without the internet, then with social media, and now with AI.
This isn’t an anti-AI statement or an anti-technology one. Rather, it explores our deepest fears in the face of radical change, and it questions whether any of the values we deemed important will last through this change.
We had tons of questions piling up in our heads about what we’re going through as a collective:
Am I your friend if I can see what you’re up to every day but never actually talk to you? Are we building connections because we care for each other, or for personal gain? Are we making art if we skip an entire process and use a prompt to create it all from scratch? Are we making music to express ourselves or to go viral?
It questions whether everything is a means to an end, and if it is, then how do we recognise the reality of things?”
Rapidly emerging as one of the UK’s most exciting new heavy acts, Lake Malice’s fearless fusion of hyperpop and metal has already earned them Heavy Music Award nominations for both ‘Best UK Breakthrough Artist’ and ‘Best Breakthrough Live Artist’. Media support continues to snowball, backed by consistent airplay from BBC Radio 1 and Kerrang! Radio alongside glowing coverage from the likes of Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, and Rock Sound.
Beyond the studio, the band have built a formidable live reputation through relentless touring across the UK and Europe. They have previously shared stages alongside Enter Shikari, Skindred, Bloodywood, Vukovi, As Everything Unfolds, and Vended, while making unforgettable appearances at Download Festival and 2000Trees Festival.
Launching around their biggest Download Festival performance to date, the album campaign kicks off with a cryptic viral poster rollout across the festival site before ‘Ghost In A Hell’ officially drops the day before the band take the stage. Designed to feel immersive, collectible, and culturally connected, this campaign expands the anime-inspired visual world Lake Malice have built around the record through cinematic 3D imagery, high-budget music videos, and fan-led activations.
The full release will be heavily supported by custom vinyl variants, exclusive CDs, premium merchandise bundles, outdoor advertising campaigns, and exclusive Serenade trading cards. Furthermore, a major global digital marketing campaign will span Spotify Showcase and Marquee, alongside influencer collaborations and strategic partnerships across the rock, alternative, and gaming worlds. With I Wanna Know If It’s Real, Lake Malice aren’t just releasing a debut album; they are making a definitive statement of intent.
I Wanna Know If It’s Real Tracklist
Scatterbrain
Ghost In A Hell
Nobody Wants To Be You
Chrome Red
rly ok
EtheReal
3D Robocop
Real Life
90’s btch
Crystallised
M.C.E (Main Character Energy)
Icarus
