While it’s only been a year and a half since Kate Clover dropped her punk-rock-by-way-of-French-New-Wave debut Bleed Your Heart Out, the West Coast garage rocker is already teasing the project’s follow up tentatively slated for a spring 2024 release. And before she hits the road next week to introduce new audiences to her singular sound, she’s sharing a brand new single today called “No More Romance,” which channels the emotional height of an argument with her partner wherein, ironically, a new realm of romance was unlocked.
“The song is about being real and vulnerable to a significant other for the first time—feeling like the illusion of romance will disappear if you present your true self,” Clover explains. “To me, that’s when things become romantic, because you’re opening up. It’s about embracing yourself in all forms. I wrote this in a moment of insecurity and letting the anxiety loop play in my mind. We all feel that way at some point. The adrenaline you feel from anxiety can be powerful. I wrangled it into a song instead of allowing it to take over.”
Citing The Clash and The Exploding Hearts as sonic reference points for the track, Clover notes that she has co-producers Jonah Falco of Fucked Up and Brandon Welchez of Crocodiles to thank for keeping the inspiration flowing. “They both are so enthusiastic about music which, oddly, is rare,” she notes. “Plus, both of them have extensive knowledge on obscure hardcore and punk bands. We’d go on hour-long YouTube breaks listening to music, which helped keep everyone’s inspiration going.”
The track is being released alongside an Ambar Navarro–directed video that leans into the same late-’60s aesthetic Clover has long been channeling. Check that out below, and expect more from Clover soon.
