Empty Nesters Premeire Their Shoegazy Single “The Simphony” feat Madeline Link of PACKS

We’d like to welcome you to “The Simphony” tonight; your featured performer is Empty Nesters, with a little help from Madeline Link. That’s right, the solo project of songwriter Eric Liao has joined forces with Madeline Link of the band PACKS. The collaboration took shape after the Montreal-based Liao acted as the opening act at a PACKS show. They quickly became good friends and now collaborators.

Commenting on the song, Liao states:

“A straightforward love song that is dedicated to my girlfriend. For fans of shoegaze and punk!”

When writing “The Simphony,” Liao felt the song could be ameliorated if it included a female vocalist. He had actually already mostly finished the song before he came to this realization. It very much suits the vocal styles of both Liao and Link, with its fuzzy, shoegaze sound that sounds both current and classic.

Liao began recording as Empty Nesters while living in Ottawa, as part of its local punk rock scene. He became known locally for playing a lot of house shows, DIY venues, and local festivals. To improve his career opportunities, Liao packed up and left for Montreal. It is here where he has really begun to thrive, amassing an impressive collection of singles and EPs. What is perhaps most impressive about Liao is his ability to absorb and combine different musical influences. Empty Nesters is very much a shoegaze project but with a backbone of post-punk, hardcore, and garage rock. He really likes to change it up and surprise listeners with a different variety of sounds.

With positive results thus far with “The Simphony,” Liao and Link hope it will be just the first of many collaborations to come. That certainly sounds like a good plan of action to us.

Empty Nesters “The Simphony” (feat Madeline Link) single artwork