The Dears - Lovers Rock
Lead by husband and wife Murray Lightburn (vox/guitar) and Natalia Yanchuk (keys/vox), The Dears sprung from the fertile Montreal indie-revival of the ‘90s. In the mid-Noughties, they had a big impact on me with No Cities Left and Gang of Losers. For reasons that I can’t explain, I have missed out on the following LPs. Listening to this, their eighth album, has reawakened the love.
In the past, critics have frequently mentioned The Smiths. Okay, Lightburn’s voice has a little of Morrisey about it and there are touches of Marr to the guitars have a touch of Marr about them but such comparisons have long been left behind. The Dears play a questing, widescreen and cinematic indie-rock. Think of a combination of a less frantic Arcade Fire, dreamy 60s Francophone pop, the Scottish indie of Teenage Fanclub or the Delgados and the Kinks at their most bucolic. Play Dead adds folky soul to the mix and there are touches of Prince throughout.
Lightburn says that The Dears play “dumb rock music” that should “make you feel like you're alive” and which says “I know what you’re going through and I’m hearing you, and I’m with you”. Amen to that. At times like these, it is just what we need.
9/10
