CLEOPATRICK’s sophomore album, FAKE MOON, is a daring leap into new territory for the Cobourg Ontario-based post-rock duo. It’s a record spanning time, influence, and sound, blending lo-fi intimacy with grand, expansive production. For Luke Gruntz and Ian Fraser, this album represents more than just a sonic shift – it’s a bold solidification of their ever-developing creative identity.

“It’s the most real thing we could have made,” Luke shares. “I wanted to do something beautiful. It’s a struggle between control and surrender, individuality and belonging. It’s where we are now.”

Returning refreshed from a creative breather, after the rigorous post-pandemic touring of debut LP BUMMER, the newest record on their own ‘Nowhere Special Recordings’ 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. Take ‘HEAT DEATH,’ a visceral opener born out of a corrupted demo session that required a painstaking, stem-by-stem rescue operation that Luke describes as “The will of a technocracy foiled by two humble men.” The song channels its own chaotic origins into a sovereign anthem of defiance, daring a universal authority to “take it from me, man.”

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. “We’re just trusting our creative compass,” they say. “I actually tried to write BUMMER 2 at first – but it immediately felt as if I was putting on the costume of a 23 year old me. It wasn't coming out honest.”

When it came to recording, the pair slowed the process and expanded their crew for the first time. Theyenlisted 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.

The lyrics on FAKE MOON are as textured and evocative as the album’s sonics, weaving narratives that feel simultaneously intimate and universal, radiating a tension between fragility and defiance, conspiracy and truth. “BAD GUY” wrestles with guilt, while “HAMMER,” written in a parked car during a Toronto heatwave, explores surrendering to authority for a fleeting sense of certainty. “SARAH” digs into the romance of collective identity, while “PLEASE” reflects on the magnetic pull of groupthink, with its robo-folk soundscape eventually degrading into a somber puddle of digital slush.

The concepts and characters on FAKE MOON often manifest as something liminal and nonlinear – like snapshots of emotions or thoughts mid-process. “SOFTDRIVE” takes this even further, as the sprawling instrumental is pieced together from years of recovered demos, videos, and voice notes off a once-busted college hard drive. The result of which is a swirling audio collage that somehow possesses both the intensity of a space shuttle launch and the frictionless peace of a near earth orbit – mirroring the duality of the record itself.

Nominated for Canada’s 2022 JUNO as “Breakthrough Group of the Year,” CLEOPATRICK have amassed over 100 million streams alongside multiple sell-out tours in the US, UK, and EU, performed at festivals Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, and Reading/Leeds, and supported Royal Blood on their US tour. With FAKE MOON, the duo ventures deeper inward, crafting a record that reasserts their artistic ability while holding true to themselves.

“This album is one of the clearest steps forward we’ve ever taken,” they say. “We’re immensely proud of it, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.