Taking my steps to say never
I’ve already kicked it off
Knowing that I won’t be better
I will not come out on top
Montreal’s Empty Nesters, the shape-shifting vehicle for Eric Liao’s genre-bending catharsis, have plunged even deeper into hardcore’s emotional undertow with their latest track, Tilley. A collaboration with indie artist Sasha Cay, this track follows swiftly on the heels of their previous offering, Shangri-Nah, exchanging rage for raw, battered vulnerability.
Tilley opens with a jagged cascade of guitars, Liao’s voice twisting through a tangle of self-doubt and internal collapse. Cay’s riot grrrl-inspired vocal injections slice cleanly through, elevating the track’s sense of spiraling uncertainty. Drummer Matthew Galamaga punctuates each fragmented confession with percussion hits like shattered glass, underscoring the restless anxiety at its core.
Empty Nesters evoke the experimental abrasions of Sonic Youth and Deafheaven’s raw catharsis, filtered through the stark aggression of Zulu and Full of Hell. Tilley thrives precisely because it rejects comfort, embracing instead the raw nerve exposed by personal failure and emotional stasis.
The video is a masterclass in emotional contrast: lo-fi footage of an oblivious puppy frolicking and stumbling through domestic tranquility. Its innocence sits uneasily against the song’s brutal honesty, a surreal juxtaposition of playfulness against lyrical despair. This visual collision underscores themes of self-erasure, fleeting time, and isolation; the dog’s carefree movements subtly mocking human anguish.
“The song title comes from my girlfriend’s friend’s dog, Tilley, who stars in the video,” says Liao. “The song itself has nothing to do with the dog. It’s just a bunch of random clips they recorded together, and I thought it’d be funny to pair those with some pretty existential lyrics. The karaoke edit was inspired by my mom—she loves karaoke and it felt like a sweet way to tie it all together.”
Watch the video for “Tilley” featuring Sasha Cay below:
Empty Nesters’ upcoming EP, Deaf Monks represents their boldest, most expansive statement yet: a vivid reflection of artistic bonds and cultural introspection. Featuring guest contributions from Canadian indie, folk, and rap artists including Clay Pigeon, Sasha Cay, Victor Complex, and Fraud Perry, the EP signals a decisive pivot into communal creativity and personal exploration.
Recent appearances at Pop Montreal, New Colossus, Flourish Festival, Side by Side Weekend, and Suoni Per Il Popolo have seen the band channeling their visceral energy directly to audiences hungry for authenticity.
Deaf Monks drops July 11th via all DSPs: brace for sounds born from collective vulnerability, resonating deepest when experienced unfiltered and face-to-face. You can preview the title track below:
Empty Nesters spoke with Post-Punk.com about their evolution, themes, and collaborations:
Empty Nesters has evolved significantly from its shoegaze beginnings to this new hardcore-punk direction. What prompted that shift, and how has it changed the way you approach collaboration and songwriting?
Empty Nesters has always been about fluidity—genre never felt like a boundary. It started as an ambient experiment, then grew through phases of garage-rock, post-punk, indie, and shoegaze. But with this EP, Hardcore-punk always spoke to me—its rawness, its urgency—and ironically, Deaf Monks and Nomad were among the first tracks I ever wrote for Empty Nesters. This release felt like the right time to bring that energy to life.
It’s also been my most collaborative project so far. I wanted to push the sound beyond just my own perspective, and that meant inviting people I admire—musicians who don’t normally exist in the hardcore world. I also wanted the EP to sound good—not just DIY rough, but intentional. So I reached out to Shae Brossard at Hotel2Tango to mix Shangri-Nah. My sessions with him were formative—he taught me a lot about shaping space, depth, and aggression in a mix. That mentorship helped me finish the rest of the EP with clarity and purpose.
“Shangri-Nah” dives into some heavy existential themes—how did your personal experiences and cultural background influence this track?
I was completely burnt out—creatively, emotionally, and just from trying to do everything myself. That feeling of never doing enough lingered in every part of my life. Shangri-Nah became a way to articulate that overwhelming pressure—to always be moving forward, proving something, staying productive. As a child of immigrants, there’s this unspoken expectation to keep grinding without complaint, even if you’re falling apart.
That mindset became internalized, and this track was the first time I allowed myself to scream back at it. Culturally, I’m often quiet and composed. But in this song, I was loud, messy, and confused—and that felt necessary. Collaborating with Clay Pigeon added even more weight; together we captured the feeling of searching for meaning while drowning in pressure.
Deaf Monks brings together voices from across Canada’s indie, folk, and rap scenes. What drew you to work with artists like Sasha Cay, Victor Complex, and Fraud Perry, and how did their contributions shape the final sound of the EP?
A lot of us met at shows—either sharing a bill or hanging out in the same circles. There was always mutual respect and curiosity about each other’s work. When I decided to make this EP, I reached out to Ribbon Skirt, Sasha Cay, Clay Pigeon, Victor Complex, and Fraud Perry with the idea of stepping into a hardcore space together. It was important to me that these collaborations weren’t just features…they were about getting people from completely different sonic backgrounds to scream with me, to embrace chaos.
Each artist brought something unexpected. Tashiina from Ribbon Skirt opened On Read with a haunting melody that made the later explosion hit harder. Sasha’s performance on Tilley added a wounded softness that still cuts. Victor’s energy on the title track was wild and unmatched, and Fraud Perry’s rhythmic precision brought Hoisin into a space between hardcore and dance. They all shaped the EP in ways I couldn’t have done alone, and I think that makes Deaf Monks stand apart from typical hardcore projects.
Catch Empty Nesters live:
- 7/12 – Montreal, CA – July 12 – La Sotterenea w/ Tachyon, BoneFrag, Feel-Effect Systems
- 7/13 – Toronto, CA – NoNo Room w/ Workers Comp, Heat, Zero Bars
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