Hailing from Chicago, Nick Karcher is the upcoming pop-punk act to watch and his new single, The Hard Bitter Truth, was released on Friday, October 6th, 2023. The heartbreak anthem introduces itself to listeners as a haunting lullaby before subverting to aggressive guitar riffs backed by stomping drum patterns - all packaged like a goth daydream.

Karcher is no stranger to crafting a catchy breakup record but he’s seemingly perfected the formula on The Hard Bitter Truth. “Writing this one was almost like looking into the future a bit,” says Karcher. “I knew it was time for the relationship to end and I knew it was going to hurt. The thing was, I knew it was going to hurt me a lot more. But that was the hard bitter truth.” Each line is written as a constant reminder while sung with conviction and a bitter disposition. The emotional performance, addictive melodies, and a finger-cutting guitar solo all lend themselves to what Karcher calls the best record he’s ever released.

While sonically walking the fine line between pop-punk and emo, visually The Hard Bitter Truth enters much more gothic territory. Karcher is photographed expressionless with his eyes doused in black eyeliner, an inverted crucifix hanging from his neck and fishnet stockings that meet his skull-patterned skirt. “First and foremost, I’m not dressing or marketing my music a certain way to get a reaction. I’m just being myself and queer people are severely underrepresented in this genre of music. We do this shit too. So when somebody hears this song and loves it then realizes its sung by a guy in a skirt wearing more makeup than their girlfriend...I’m not opposed to being a part of that conversation.”

The Hard Bitter Truth was written by Nick Karcher alongside Reece Lenzo and producer Michael Bono (Avril Lavigne, YUNGBLUD, girlfriends).