Josh Pyke has released a new track, titled ‘Doubting Thomas’, and a music video to accompany it.
‘Doubting Thomas’ was produced by Pyke in his own studio, Timshel Industries, and mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Tucker Martine. Watch the video below:
The track is a follow-up to Pyke’s first release in five years, ‘I Don’t Know’. Pyke’s hiatus from music, in part, was caused by his issues with anxiety. However, in a statement, he said taking a break allowed him to “[get] rid of self-imposed rules” when it came time to write new music.
“‘Doubting Thomas’ for me is a song that references the fact I’m just making music I want to make. It’s got a weird, long instrumental solo thing in the middle that I would never have done five years ago,” he said.
“Having no time constraints and no real agenda gave me freedom.”
The music video was filmed in Singapore, specifically in the large mirror maze at the country’s Science Centre, right at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.
“The atmosphere was strange and tense. At that point, gatherings had not been banned, but we were having our temperatures taken before entering venues, and the streets were eerily quiet,” Pyke said.
“Little did we know that a few days after we returned the government would issue the 14-day quarantine laws for travellers returning from overseas. A few days after that, gatherings were banned, my tour was postponed and the whole world went into lockdown.”
Pyke recently appeared on Q+A, where he discussed the issues musicians are currently facing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The restrictions on public gatherings have led to a significant loss of income for the live performance sector.
“Our industry has been decimated, my personal touring income has been written off for the next six months,” Pyke said on Q+A.
“We contribute $15billion to the economy every year… so we’re optimistic but we’re definitely deeply concerned about how the next six months is going to play out for our industry.”
In March, Pyke performed a live-streamed concert in lieu of his postponed tour dates, which have been moved to October.