Melbourne punk/alt-rock band Catholic Guilt are sharing their new track and video, “Talking Fake,” and you can check it out premiering right here at New Noise.
The single follows the release of the band’s 2018 debut EP, Hymnbook Vol. 1, and their follow up, This Is What Honesty Sounds Like, released in August 2020. The two releases collectively worked to launch Catholic Guilt into the scene, with the band’s tracks featured on more than 130 stations receiving widespread acclaim following their sophomore release.
Catholic Guilt has gone on to appear in a number of major Australian festivals, and they are currently working on piecing together a U.S. tour in support of This Is What Honesty Sounds Like. The band also recently added new guitarist/backing vocalist Megan Sidwell, just in time for their new standalone single, “Talking Fake.” The band plan to spend the remainder of the year touring nationally and internationally while writing and recoding tracks for the follow up to This Is What Honesty Sounds Like.
Frontman Brenton Harris chats more about the track:
“‘Talking Fake’ was inspired by reaching that all-too-familiar point in a relationship where the lines of communication have completely broken down. Both sides want to talk it out, but neither can work out what to say, or how to say it, so they don’t say anything and instead live in the comfort of discomfort, paralyzed by anxiety and the fear that if they do start to talk, it might end up being their final conversation. It is an appeal to both sides of the relationship to put all the placating, all of the excuses and the unending awkwardness aside and just speak honestly and truthfully with one another. To quit ‘talking fake’ and just ‘give it to me straight.’ Whatever happens on the other side of that conversation has to be better than living in a state of constant fracture.“
Video director Dia Taylor also offered some insight on the music video:
“‘Talking Fake’ has been one of my favorite music videos to have made thus far as the story behind it is one that hits home. So very often, we put on a fake smile, say everything is alright, and keep pushing through, just so we don’t end up facing the truth that no, things are not okay and things need to change. This can be on both a relationship level—romantic and platonic alike, as well as a larger, non-personalised level.”
Taylor continues, “I wanted to give this video a fantastical feel to it with the characters being thrown into an alternative world of their first happy day together. Taking inspiration from director Marjane Satrapi’s 2014 film The Voices and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) by director Michel Gondry, The fantasy world is eerily familiar, yet something is wrong. We cast limited extras and used them in as many shots as we could (you’ll notice the double up at times), directing them to be over-the-top and then completely lifeless. David’s cinematography helped to create the beautiful, colorful world, and Amelia and Tom’s performances nailed the differences in reality and fantasy.”
Catholic Guilt also have a number of shows coming up:
October 24 – Will’s Pub · Orlando (Foreign Dissent 7: International Punk Rock Party (Pre-FEST))
October 26 – Tampa, FL, Details
October 27 – SmartPunk Unofficial Pre-Fest, – Gainesville, FL, Details
October 30 – FEST 20, Looseys, Gainesville, FL
Watch the video for “Talking Fake” here:
For more from Catholic Guilt, find them on Facebook, Instagram, and their official website.
Photo courtesy of Catholic Guilt
