THE CHEAP THRILLS ANNOUNCE DEBUT ALBUM KEEP CHEAP OUT SEPTEMBER 18TH 2026

The Cheap Thrills have announced their highly anticipated debut album Keep Cheap for release on September 18^th. The album is available to pre-order here.

Keep Cheap is an uplifting record packed full of huge indie anthems which celebrate their Liverpool roots while delivering poignant universal messages for the entire nation. It tracks the journey from their humble teenage beginnings to becoming one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the city in recent times.

Regarding the album frontman Lewis Pike says, “We’ve used ‘Keep Cheap’ as our motto for years, a phrase that reflects our commitment to doing things on our own terms. It’s played such a big role in shaping who we are as a band, so it feels only fitting our first album carries the same name.

Lyrically, the album is both vulnerable and sincere, balanced with moments of wit and a distinct scouse turn of phrase. It features a combination of new material alongside songs that took us on this journey – a blend of established favourites and future classics. At its core, the album offers an honest reflection on love, loss, growing up, and finding clarity along the way.”

Opener ‘hairs’ paves the way with its bright synth-laden keys launching the propulsive yet pensive anthem, “about the beautiful little reminders that seem to turn up when you are delicate.”

‘looking’ meanwhile is a swaggering statement with a bite reminiscent to the likes of Jamie T and a demonstration of politically charged indie poetry from Pike. “This is consciousness spoken word which is introspective and also imaginary. I imagine a world where I’m a pensioner stuck in a rut, under tory rule. It ends with the realisation this is all up to me and it’s where I’m at mentally rather than where I am in the world.”

‘run’ follows and shimmers with the yearning for this clarity and escape, its cheery jangled riffs sitting between the likes of The Libertines and Bloc Party while the upbeat sounds juxtapose its darker themes. “It’s about living with anxiety and the temptation to escape from it, even when you know the relief won’t last,” says Pike. “It follows someone caught between reaching out for help and shutting everyone out, and about realising that the hardest thing to run from is yourself.”

This understanding of oneself is developed throughout the new songs on the record, ‘air breathing mammals’, “came from realising I’d spent too much time looking up to people I’d never really know,” while ‘electric fences’, “is about inner turmoil and how I feel a prisoner in my own thoughts sometimes. The electric fences serve the imagery that I don’t want to let you in and I don’t want to let myself out.”

The album also includes a number of hit singles which have seen them achieve multimillion streams, including the likes of ‘codependence’ which skyrocketed them to scouse hero status as the soundtrack for Liverpool FC’s European kit campaign. They solidified their standing in the city with the release of ‘walton vale’, a homage to the street that birthed The Cheap Thrills while also analysing wider problems in society, “It follows a man trapped in addiction, set against one of Liverpool’s lesser-known streets. Rather than judging him, the song tries to understand the guilt, loneliness and regret that come with addiction, and the difficulties of admitting that something must change.”

As Keep Cheap arrives to cement The Cheap Thrills as Liverpool’s most important new export, the album stands as statement of a band ready to take on the world.

KEEP CHEAP TRACK LISTING

1. hairs
2. walton vale
3. looking
4. run
5. reborn
6. air beathing mammals
7. take things back
8. codependence
9. electric fences
10. last orders
11. something for nothing
12. paranoia
13. calypso blue

With fans hungry for The Cheap Thrills on and off record, the band have announced extensive touring in support of the new album. Their UK headline tour in October is selling out rapidly and they have today announced further instore live dates for the album release in September.

Ahead of these dates they will play their largest hometown show to over 2000 fans at Liverpool’s Mountford Hall on August 1^st which is sold out. They will then play a number of festivals in August including Together Again, Y Not, 110 Above, as well as supporting The Fratellis in Wakefield on August 28^th. Full dates are listed below and tickets are available via thecheapthrills.co.uk/live

THE CHEAP THRILLS TOUR DATES
Jul 25^th – Tattenhall, Together Again Festival
Aug 1^st – Liverpool, Mountford Hall – SOLD OUT
Aug 2^nd – Derbyshire, Y Not Festival
Aug 22^nd – Atherstone, 110 Above Festival
Aug 28^th – Wakefield, Tileyard North *
Sep 18^th – Liverpool, Jacaranda Baltic **
Sep 19^th – Liverpool, Jacaranda Baltic **
Sep 20^th – Liverpool, Jacaranda **
Sep 22^nd – Leeds, Jumbo Records **
Sep 23^rd – London, Rough Trade East **
Sep 24^th – Bury, Wax & Beans **
Oct 7^th – Glasgow, SWG3 Poetry Club – SOLD OUT
Oct 8^th – Newcastle, Think Tank?
Oct 9^th – Manchester, Manchester Academy
Oct 10^th – Nottingham, The Bodega Social Club – SOLD OUT
Oct 11^th – Leeds, Oporto – SOLD OUT
Oct 13^th – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
Oct 14^th – Bristol, The Croft
Oct 15^th – Southampton, Heartbreakers – SOLD OUT
Oct 16^th – London, Barfly Camden – SOLD OUT

* supporting The Fratellis
** new album instore