“Catching Smoke” is a hedonistic pop song with an instantly recognizable opening and lyrics based around a wide variety of drugs and the out-of-body experiences and highs that they can bring. However, the song also has a more personal side; in a press release for the song’s music video, Stu said “‘Catching Smoke’ is about chasing the feeling that’s impossible to catch. You’ll never get your hands on it, but you’re gonna try anyway…”
The song has become a fan favorite from Butterfly 3000 since release.
In an interview with Stereogum, Stu elaborated on the song’s meaning. “I think this is the most hedonistic song that we’ve ever written. In the narrative of the record, it was the one time we were allowed to do this and not feel guilty about it. And I suppose it’s just about embracing that butterfly state, and about embracing that kind of hedonistic headspace and actively seeking it. You’re moving on from ‘Interior People,’ where you’re questioning if you’re in it or not, and this song is about going there, even for one night.”
The final version of the song was recorded by Ambrose (percussion/vocals), Cavs (drums), Cook (electric guitar/synthesizer), Joey (acoustic guitar/synthesizer/vocals/electric guitar/strings) and Stu (acoustic guitar/synthesizer/bass/vocals/percussion/drums/piano), making it the largest lineup on the album.
The song was released on June 11th, 2021 with a full album video filmed at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles released on the 24th.
Danny Cohen’s music video for “Catching Smoke” was released on July 26th, 2021. It shows the band (with no eyebrows) playing the song in a dark room. The band wears tan suits with Stu wearing a cocoon. Near the halfway point, Stu stands up and walks away from his piano and leaves his cocoon — turning into a butterfly. The rest of the band have also transformed, each one becoming a different bug. The room is transformed with bright scenery and back up dancers who dance while the band plays, leading to a large dance party involving the band.
“Catching Smoke” was Cohen’s first Gizzard video since “People-Vultures” in 2016 and was inspired by the music video for “Interior People.”
In the previously mentioned press release, Cohen said, “here's a clip that might feel like the past, or the future, maybe both, the present? It's set wherever you want it to be, whenever too, in a time that's everyone's. It's a story of a fleeting fleet, straying the course to inhabit their inner instinctual insect, I think. Or maybe it's precisely what it is, Sgt. Pepper's Bug's Life Matrix Band but more fun."
Cohen said of the video’s concept, “I wanted to lure people in for the first half, keep it neutral and beige, make it feel like a somewhat regular performance clip to help contrast the shift halfway through this song.”
The contrast between sections was no doubt helped by the work of Vy Nguyen and Emily Crosato who created the costumes and scenery scene in the second half. Stu noted that it was one of their biggest productions but one that he was happy with: “It was definitely, in some ways, the biggest production and traditional music video we’ve ever done, but in another way, it’s one of the most far-out things we’ve done. I feel like you can watch ‘Catching Smoke’ and feel like we’re taking the piss, or think it’s somehow ironic, but we actually wanted it to be genuine… That was the beauty in that one for me, just embracing that. It’s been nice that people have enjoyed it because we were just like what… are we doing… what have we become?”
In a 2022 Reddit AMA both Stu and Lucas would name “Catching Smoke” as one of their favorite videos. Like all Butterfly 3000 videos, it would be featured on the Blu-Ray Butterfly 3000: Ocular Edition. The video would be referenced on the poster for 2022-04-19. “Catching Smoke” would later appear in the behind the scenes video The Making of Omnium Gatherum with Cavs, Joey and Lucas dancing to a sped-up version of the song.
For the album Butterfly 3001, “Catching Smoke” was remixed three times.
The first is the “Dam-Funk Instrumental ‘Re-Freak’,” which is the song’s instrumental with a number of additional synth parts. In a tweet, DamFunk mentioned that this was one of his last remixes.
The “4am Wack Rmx” by Hieroglyphic Relic starts with a discordant soundscape with sped-up samples of Stu’s vocals. A distorted electronic drum beat follows behind it which builds for almost twelve minutes.
The album’s closer is the Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith remix and features a number of strange, often out-of-place and non-isolated clips layered about a steady rhythm.
“Catching Smoke” has never been played live but a live debut was hinted at in a poll during the livestream of 2024-09-05.