Beauty Sleep have announced the release of their upcoming second album through Alcopop! Records, The Whole Damn Cake, out in October.

Consisting of Cheylene Murphy and Ryan McGroarty, the alt-pop duo from Derry dropped their lead single ‘Radical Happiness’ today, along with an accompanying music video. They have a live show scheduled for November 20 at Belfast’s The Empire.

“We wanted to embrace radical happiness for our own lives, but we were so far away from that feeling,” said McGroarty, “Our mental health was so low and we were such people pleasers to a fault that prioritising our emotions and desires felt radical. So we embarked on figuring out how to find radical happiness by living it—we did all the things we thought we weren't good enough for, things we thought we would do ‘when we were successful,’ or ‘when we had more money,’ or when the perfect conditions were just so…”

The album was recorded in their custom-built studio. It was inspired by their journeys of self-betterment and seeing live shows from artists like St. Vincent, HAIM and Villagers.

“We spent time with friends, celebrated them, and adventured with them,” said McGroarty. “We went on holidays, which we never let ourselves do before. We did a Malin to Mizen road trip (top of Ireland to the bottom of Ireland) and went to New York for 10 days and went to a show every night. We made a home together, and we got married.”

“We worked and saved up to do all of these things over time,” he added. “And we wrote about it as we went—that is this album. It totally transformed our lives, it was an insane journey. We realised as we did it that radical happiness for us meant fighting for your voice and the life you want. Standing up for yourself and embracing all parts of yourself.”

The pair have performed at festivals like SXSW, Electric Picnic and Other Voices. Their debut album Be Kind dropped in 2019, and was shortlisted for Best Album at the Northern Irish Music Prize.