Photo Credit: Nikola Jokanovic
Release self-reflective new single ‘We Don’t Talk’ and striking B-Side ‘Toothache’
Naarm indie favourites The Velvet Club are thrilled to announce their debut album Are You Falling In Love?, set for release on July 10, 2026. Pre-save the album HERE and pre-order physical copies HERE.
Alongside the announcement, the band have shared their new single and recent live favourite ‘We Don’t Talk’, which made its debut last night on triple j’s Drive with Abby and Tyrone. The single is accompanied by B-side track ‘Toothache’, a melancholic synth-driven floorfiller. Stream both songs HERE, and watch the music video for ‘We Don’t Talk’ HERE.
‘We Don’t Talk’ was one of the last songs written for the album, and is as frontman AJ Tilyard says “one of the more self-reflective songs on the record.” Navigating the rocky emotional terrain of a long-term relationship coming to an end, and the loss of identity and direction that can follow, ‘We Don’t Talk’ is a strikingly candid moment on the record and has become a fan favourite at the band’s recent live shows.
Are You Falling In Love? is a triumphant return to creative joy for The Velvet Club, as the product of a burnout-induced hiatus in the wake of their 2024 EP Space Between. The band’s decision to take a break from writing, recording, and touring instead found AJ in his most prolific songwriting period yet. The unravelling of a long term relationship, and the rise of anxiety and other mental health struggles during that time saw AJ turn to songwriting and nostalgia as a salve, revisiting live videos of the bands he had decorated his bedroom walls with in high school – the likes of The Strokes, The Vaccines, The Drums and The Smiths.
“The theme of the album basically encapsulates this year and a half period of my life between 2024-2026 where everything seemed to come to a head,” AJ reflects. “While writing, I started therapy, and after we began tracking for the album I started medication to help manage depression, anxiety and OCD. Finally addressing these as issues I had been ignoring definitely changed the trajectory of this album, and helped shape the overall tone and feeling of the record.”
Throughout the record’s 10 tracks, The Velvet Club navigate mental health struggles, relationship breakdowns, friendship, and solitude, fuelled by jangly guitars and hooks that move from bright to melancholic and back again. The Velvet Club’s return to the hazy immediacy and raw, unpolished charm of 2000s indie is what made the title track ‘Are You Falling In Love?’ the perfect album opener. At just over two minutes, the track captures the punchy energy of a TVC live show with its catchy, repetitive melodies – an intentional choice that AJ says “really sets the scene for the rest of the album.” Songs like ‘Blue’ and ‘We Don’t Talk’ dive into AJ’s experience with heartbreak and healing, while ‘Wasted Space’ and ‘I Need Something Too’ touch on mental health, particularly his experience with OCD and his journey in accepting its impact on his life.
From their intimate DIY release parties and secret shows, to tearing up the stage alongside the likes of Hockey Dad, DICE, The Rions, and Rum Jungle, The Velvet Club’s passion for honouring and reimagining a beloved genre has led the band to a tight-knit community of music lovers, musicians, and fans alike. As well as their influences abroad, The Velvet Club also look to their peers – the likes of sleepazoid, The Belair Lip Bombs, and Highschool – for motivation. “Aside from the personal cathartic experience of writing and creating it, my favourite thing about making music is the community you build around it,” says AJ. “All the friends we’ve made through it and the bands we’ve grown close to along the way have been by far the most rewarding part about making music.”
That sense of community is what led them to working with friend, producer, and fellow musician Luke Thomas (Fan Girl, Harris, World’s Best Neighbours) on Are You Falling In Love?. “We literally could not have made the record without Luke. He co-produced and engineered the entire thing from his own studio, Taste Police, in Brunswick. It’s also why I believe this album sounds so true to us and what we are about as a band. We made this record completely on our own with our friends.” The album was mixed by Scott Hoorscroft (DMA’s, Middle Kids, DZ Deathrays) and mastered by George Georgiadis (The Rions, The Buoys, Teenage Dads).
‘We Don’t Talk’
out now
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Are You Falling In Love?
out July 10
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