The Dears

The Dears

The Dears at The Electric Ballrooms, Camden, London, UK. February 2005.
Background information
Origin Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres Indie rock
Years active 1995–present
Labels Pheromone, Grenadine, MapleMusic, Bella Union, Arts & Crafts, Dangerbird, Albert Records
Arts & Crafts México
Associated acts Thrush Hermit, Black Diamond Bay, Pony Up
Website www.thedears.org
Members Murray Lightburn
Natalia Yanchak
Jeff Luciani

The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band is led by the husband-and-wife duo of singer-guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak.

History

The band formed in 1995 and released their first album, End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, in 2000. [1]Their orchestral, dark pop sound and dramatic live shows cemented The Dears at the foundation of the then-emerging Canadian indie renaissance.[2] In 2001 and 2002, they released the EPs Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique and Protest, respectively, as well as a collection of unreleased songs, Nor the Dahlias. In 2003 they released their second full-length album No Cities Left, and a string of highly anticipated shows at SXSW '04 launched their international career.[3]

The Dears performing at Botanique in Brussels, 2006

The Dears toured extensively across Canada, USA, UK, Europe, Japan and Australia supporting the international release of No Cities Left and returned to the studio to record in 2005. Gang of Losers was released in 2006, and was well received by the press.[4]

The Dears have had high-profile gigs as opening act for Sloan, The Tragically Hip, Keane, The Secret Machines and Morrissey, to whom Lightburn is often compared. Their music has been described as a cross between The Smiths and Serge Gainsbourg with Lightburn's singing voice being likened to Morrissey as well as Blur's Damon Albarn. The complexity of the music and arrangements has also been compared to Radiohead, Jethro Tull and early Genesis. The Dears' powerful live shows have been described as: "...the sonic equivalent of seeing the face of God."[5]

On July 10, 2007, The Dears' album Gang of Losers was named to the shortlist for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize. The follow-up Missiles was released in the United Kingdom on October 20 and in North America on October 21, 2008.

On February 15, 2011, The Dears released their fifth studio album, Degeneration Street. The album was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.[6]

Band members

Natalia Yanchak performing at South by Southwest.

Current members

Discography

Murray Lightburn performing at South by Southwest.

Studio albums

EPs

Compilation albums

Live albums

Singles

Other contributions

Awards and nominations

The Dears performing a free concert at Harbourfront in Toronto, Ontario.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Carpenter, Lorraine (2011). The Dears: Lost in The Plot. Montreal, QC: Invisible Publishing. ISBN 192674313X.
  2. ↑ "CANOE - JAM! Dears, The: Dear little band". Jam.canoe.ca. 2004-11-30. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  3. ↑ Archived February 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Reviews for Gang Of Losers by The Dears". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  5. ↑ Missio, Eric (2007-07-24). "The Dears: Polaris Pessimism and their Last Two Concerts this Year". Chartattack.com. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  6. ↑ "2011 Polaris Music Prize Long List announced". AUX.TV. 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  7. ↑ http://polarismusicprize.ca/heritage-prize/2016-short-list/
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