Life 1 is the fifth studio album by the American musician Quadeca, released on October 1, 2026, via his own record label, X8 Music. It serves as the follow-up to Vanisher, Horizon Scraper (2025). In promotion of Life 1, Quadeca released four singles – "Dark Magic", "Baby Steps", "Hell of a Time," "Life 1 (Where Did the Time Go)" – and announced a North American tour, which is set to take place in October and November 2026. The album features an appearance from Canadian musician Kmoe.
Background On July 25, 2025, Quadeca released his studio album Vanisher, Horizon Scraper to critical acclaim, and served as his first released through his own label, X8 Music, after leaving DeadAir Records. A concept album based on a sailor who goes on a voyage, a film that serves as a visual compliment to the album was also released. Quadeca went on a North American tour in support of the album in October and November.
On March 18, 2026, Quadeca posted on his Instagram page with the caption "new album i think i will call it life1." This post has since been deleted. Shortly after, Quadeca toured in Australia, with merch pertaining to Life 1 being sold. On May 16, Quadeca debuted "Like You Always Do" live at the Kilby Block Party, because he wrote the song in Pine Valley, Utah.
Music and lyrics
Tracks The opening track, "Life 1 (Where Did the Time Go)", combines elements of jazz, synths, and "flamenco-style" guitar, with vocal harmonies similar to a Justin Timberlake track. The second track, "Dark Magic" begins with "distorted breathing and abrasive guitar drones" before evolving into the use of "warm" electric piano chords, built around "tonal whiplash and absurdist tension." The tenth track, "Baby Steps" is a fusion of hip-hop, indie rock, and folk music, with Quadeca singing on an acoustic track. The eleventh track, "Hell of a time," is primarily a dance track, centering around the use of artificial sounding drum presets, and ending with an orchestral swell.
Promotion and release On May 27, 2026, Quadeca released the album's lead single "Dark Magic" with an accompanied music video, with direction and editing from Quadeca and Brendon Burton. The music video first uses surreal humour and unsettling imagery before transforming into a "strange rural road movie", where Quadeca travels through South Carolina in a wooden house mounted to a pickup truck. On June 23, he released its second single "Baby Steps" with an accompanied music video.
On July 22, Quadeca released the album's third single "Hell of a Time" with an accompanied music video. The same day of its release, he announced a North American tour of the album. On July 25 and August 1, Quadeca performed at the Fuji Rock and Lollapalooza festivals, respectively. The 22-date North American tour in support of Life 1 is set to begin on October 10, in Mesa and conclude on November 10, in Los Angeles.
On September 21, Quadeca released the album's fourth single "Life 1 (Where Did the Time Go)" with an accompanied music video on Youtube. The end of the music video revealed the album's release date as October 1, 2026, which was further confirmed through social media. It was released by X8 Music.
Track listing
Note All track titles are stylized in sentence case, with the exception of "Celery" and "The Gambler", which are stylized in all caps. Tracks 2 and 10 were originally released in title case.
Personnel Credits are adapted from Tidal. Quadeca – production, mixing, mastering (all tracks); vocals (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6–14), piano (1, 3, 7, 12), percussion (1, 4, 7–10, 12, 13), synthesizer (1, 10, 13), programming (1), electric piano (2, 9), drums (2), guitar (2, 4, 7–9, 12, 13), keyboards (4, 13) Johnny Hall – keyboards (1), piano (2) Fahem Erfan – guitar (1, 4, 6, 7, 9), vocals (5), bass (10, 13) Myles Martin – drums (1, 8–10, 13) Johan Lenox – piano (3, 14) Caleb Buchanan – bass (6), upright bass (9, 12) Kmoe – production, vocals (6) Oleka – vocals (9) Noah Ehler – cello (12), production (14)
References