The Empty Threats | CREDIT: Nash Blight.

The Empty Threats Announce New Album ‘Happy Birthday’, Share ‘Phone Call’

February 28, 2025

The Empty Threats have returned with the formal announcement of their second studio album, Happy Birthday, alongside a new single lifted from it. The album, which follows on from their 2023 debut Monster Truck Mondays, is slated for an independent release in July of 2025 – with an official date and further information on both its physical and digital release to come.

‘Phone Call’ marks the Adelaide post-punk band’s first new music since Monster Truck Mondays, with its title stemming from something a police officer said to lead vocalist/saxophonist Stu Patterson verbatim. Patterson, coincidentally, was listening to an instrumental demo of the song in their car, and coming up with lyrics by singing along while holding the phone. This prompted the attention of highway patrol, who pulled Patterson over and fined them for using their phone while driving – adding, “I bet that phone call wasn’t worth it”.

An accompanying music video has also been shared for ‘Phone Call’, which sees the band performing the song while Patterson dances, writhes on the floor and regurgitates green liquid. The video’s director, Conor Mercury, noted that the clip’s use of reversed footage was inspired by the video Spike Jonze made for The Pharcyde’s 1990s hit ‘Drop’. The video can be viewed below.

The Empty Threats – ‘Phone Call’

To launch ‘Phone Call’, as well as preview more new material from Happy Birthday, the band are set to play a run of shows over the coming weeks – starting tonight (February 28th) with a headlining show in Melbourne. The band are also set to take part in She Can Rage, a mini-festival of LGBTQ+ artists curated by Total Tommy, taking place as part of this year’s Great Southern Nights series.