After 2023’s Reality Club Presents… led to their biggest hit “Anything You Want”, a couple of AMI Awards trophies, a North American tour and opening for superstar Niki across Southeast Asia, it turns out the next challenge for Reality Club was themselves. “We’d already made three albums and had great achievements we were grateful for. But we’d always had a bit of impostor syndrome and downplayed our achievements,” says Faiz. “This time, we decided to stop it. So ‘no more impostor syndrome’ was the whole mantra of the album.”

As a result, Who Knows Where Life Will Take You? has more carefree vibes and indie rock sounds that resemble Reality Club’s debut album but with the skills and experience they’ve gained during their nine years together. “Looking back, we made Never Get Better just so we could play our original stuff in the car; on What Do You Really Know?, we were trying to prove to people that we’re cool and edgy; and on Reality Club Presents…, we were trying to prove to ourselves that we have the musical chops to do different genres, work with an orchestra and go all-out with the movie-like videos,” says Faiz. “On this album, we’re not trying to prove anything to anyone, not even ourselves. That’s why I feel it’s similar to the first album in a way.”

Who Knows Where Life Will Take You? began in May 2024 with a nine-day songwriting session in Ubud, Bali that led to its 13 songs. Like on previous Reality Club albums, romance in its various permutations and phases make up the bulk of Who Knows Where Life Will Take You?, particularly the songs written by Faiz who upholds the band’s signature witty yet heartfelt lyrics and catchy melodies on the melancholic “Muted Sirens” and “You’ll Find Lovers Like You and Me”, while adding more humor via “Lost Myself in Reveries”, “Finding a Catholic Man to Love the Love of My Life”, “Shut Up, Behave” and “Thank You for Hijacking My Existential Crisis”.

But Fathia, who had one songwriting credit on the last album, also contributed more songs this time, including the Beatles-esque “Everything I Write”, the synth pop-inspired “Outta My Mind”, the acoustic folk of “Misanthrope” and “You’re Only as Good as Your Worst Day”, an epic that’s over eight minutes long. “I didn’t want to sing ballads this time because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and also show that female singers don’t need to only sing ballads,” she says.

The band also wanted to make the whole album process a bonding experience, which is why they went to Bangkok to record it in February 2025 at Dynamic Recording Studio. “We wanted to get away from the distractions of Jakarta and also make memories we’ll remember as we listen to this album,” says Faiz. “Bangkok was our choice because we wanted to go somewhere in Asia, somewhere we could be together, and somewhere that has a fun music scene.”

Working with American musician Brad Oberhofer (Weezer, Rostam, Chloe Moriondo) as well as Iga Massardi (Barasuara, Tulus, Nadin Amizah) and Wisnu Ikhsantama (Maliq & D’Essentials, Kunto Aji) as producers, the band experimented with new sounds and arrangements, while still keeping their signature style. “Brad pushed us to try different guitar tones and vocal layers we wouldn’t normally do, while Iga and Tama helped us make the songs tighter and more dynamic,” says Era.

In the end, Reality Club made an album that reflects where they are right now: more assured, more playful, and more united than ever. “This album feels like the most ‘us’ album we’ve ever made,” says Nugi. “It’s a celebration of our journey, but also a reminder to just go with the flow — because really, who knows where life will take you?”