cleopatrick have released their sophomore album, FAKE MOON, via Nowhere Special Recordings/Thirty Tigers, kicking off their UK/Ireland tour this week in Brighton [all dates below]. WIth it, Luke Gruntz and Ian Fraser have shared a video for the record’s latest single, “HEAT DEATH.” Watch + share via YouTube.
Discussing the single and video, Luke notes, “‘HEAT DEATH’ was actually the first song I wrote for this record, and in a way, it set the tone for everything that followed. I made it on my laptop, just exploring new sounds, and it really opened the door to the kind of territory I wanted to explore sonically. It’s not only a fitting opener thematically, diving into those big-picture concepts of inevitability and cosmic collapse, but it also embodies the album’s approach to sound—a quilt of textures, demos, and future ideas all coming together. It’s where we first embraced that blend of lo-fi experimentation and digital manipulation, and everything else kind of grew from that place. It’s like the blueprint for the whole ‘FAKE MOON’ era.
The video has me going full method actor. It was super fun to film. Ian shot and edited the whole thing. At times he was filming me from like a kilometre away which really helped me fall into the character because I felt so alone. This guy’s trying to get the word out about the inevitable collapse of our universe.”
Returning refreshed from a creative breather, after the rigorous post-pandemic touring of debut LP BUMMER, FAKE MOON is a captivating collision of lo-fi grit, quiet introspection, and overt existentialism. Anchored in refusal of conformity, and captured with what can only be described as the audio equivalent to Playstation 1 graphics – FAKE MOON navigates power, vulnerability, and the complexities of individual identity with both rawness and precision.
When it came to recording the new album, the pair slowed the process and expanded their crew for the first time. They enlisted respected guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Haldeman and the expertise of producer Philip Weinrobe (Adrianne Lenker/Hand Habits/Tomberlin). Hunkered down in Weinrobe’s Brooklyn studio, together they shaped the sound from an “as long as it feels good, it sounds good” approach, where the angular recordings from the pair’s instinctive style of throwing up mics and tracking on whatever device was closest formed its foundations.
FAKE MOON is cleopatrick at their most adventurous. Look overhead and perhaps you’ll spot the orbiting influences of Radiohead’s experimental brilliance, the grounded surrealism of Dijon’s Absolutely, or the raw intimacy of favourites since highschool, Califone. For Luke and Ian, this album represents more than just a sonic shift – it’s a bold solidification of their ever-developing creative identity.
Nominated for Canada’s 2022 JUNO Award as “Breakthrough Group of the Year,” cleopatrick have amassed over 100 million streams alongside multiple sell-out tours in the U.S., UK, and EU, performed at festivals Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, and Reading/Leeds, and supported Royal Blood on their U.S. tour. The band will head out across the UK and Ireland in March.
Read the full FAKE MOON bio here.
Tour Dates:
03/18 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk [LOW TICKETS]
03/19 – Bristol, UK @ SWX [LOW TICKETS]
03/21 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City [LOW TICKETS]
03/22 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 2 [SOLD OUT]
03/23 – Dublin, IE @ The Academy
03/25 – Glasgow, UK @ TV Studio, SWG3
03/26 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus, Leeds University
03/28 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institut 2 [SOLD OUT]
03/29 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton [SOLD OUT]