Toronto-based rock duo cleopatrick are back with a vengeance. The Cobourg-formed band just announced their sophomore album, FAKE MOON, set to drop on March 14 via nowhere special recordings / Thirty Tigers. Fans got their first taste of the project today with the release of their intense new single, “PLEASE.”
Following up their 2021 debut BUMMER, the album was recorded in Brooklyn with multi-instrumentalist Mike Haldeman and producer Philip Weinrobe. According to guitarist-vocalist Luke Gruntz, it represents a major step forward:
“It’s the most real thing we could have made. I wanted to do something beautiful. It’s a struggle between control and surrender, individuality and belonging. This album is one of the clearest steps forward we’ve ever taken. We’re immensely proud of it, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.”
As for “PLEASE”, Gruntz describes it as a love song of sorts, exploring the magnetism of the collective and the tension between resisting and giving in. The track builds into a chaotic, distorted breakdown that reflects its core theme:
“There’s a gradual surrender and slow unraveling in the recording—like the sound itself is subject to the same cosmic pull I’m singing about. By the end of the track, all the instruments are being torn apart digitally. Phil had almost the entire mix running through an old Roland 303 sampler that mangled the audio into this beautiful, slushy mess of missing information and usurped data. I like to call this ‘LAPTOP ROCK.’”
Alongside the track, cleopatrick have also dropped a moody, overcast music video directed by Ryan Faist (a.k.a. boy wonder). Watch the video below and get ready for FAKE MOON—it’s shaping up to be one of the duo’s boldest moves yet.
Are you ready for the next era of cleopatrick? Hit play on “PLEASE” and let us know what you think.
