With the release of their long-awaited debut album Are You Falling In Love? (out July 10) on the horizon, rising Naarm indie rockers The Velvet Club are today proud to announce a national tour in support of the record, taking place in August. The four-date run will see the band bring their magnetic, nostalgia-rich live performances to stages in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Melbourne. Tickets are on sale now and available HERE.
“We can’t wait to tour our debut album,” says frontman AJ Tilyard. “It feels like this is what we have been building up to for the 8 years we have been a band. We have always been a live band first and have always put all of our energy and focus into our live shows.”
Over the past year or so while writing and recording the album, and around single releases, The Velvet Club opted to play a handful of secret shows, small rooms, and parties both in Melbourne and interstate. The upcoming album tour marks the band’s first official headline tour since their Space Between EP run in 2024, and will see emerging Adelaide favourites Pureé support the east coast dates, and WA indie darlings Ghost Care join in for Perth.
“This headline tour around Australia is so exciting for us, we have so much planned for these shows to bring all of these new songs to life for you. I have no doubt these will be the best shows we’ve ever put on, especially having two of our favourite Australian bands Pureé and Ghost Care on support duties at the shows!”
The tour announcement follows the recent release of fan-favourite track ‘We Don’t Talk’, which debuted on triple j Drive with Abby and Tyrone. Stream HERE, and watch the music video HERE. It’s the latest of three singles released so far from the band’s upcoming debut album, Are You Falling In Love?, due for release on July 10. Pre-save the album HERE and pre-order merch and vinyl HERE.
The Velvet Club
Are You Falling In Love? Album Tour
With special guests Pureé & Ghost Care *
7th August – Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney
8th August – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
14th August – Rosemount Hotel, Perth *
21st August – Howler, Melbourne
Tickets HERE
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).
