Country : Canada (Quebec) Label : Dangerbird Genres and styles : Chamber Pop / Indie Rock Year : 2020

Lovers Rock

· by Louise Jaunet

“Something from the outside of this world / Is focused on a wrath / Mercy isn’t coming / Nor is mirth / Beholden to a past / We wanted this to last.” When you compare these lyrics from “Heart of an Animal” to what we’re collectively experiencing right now, you can’t help but feel a chill. Singer Murray Lightburn is no fortune teller, but one can’t remain insensitive to the disturbing, apocalyptic setting of the Dears’ new album, which is starting to become strangely real. Influenced by the Smiths’ Britpop romanticism and The Divine Comedy’s orchestrations, the band talks about the end of the world with as much poetry and darkness as Serge Gainsbourg (adding a bit of philanthropy to the whole). Assembled in 1995 around the couple formed by guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak, the collective now has eight albums to its credit and a nomination for the 2011 Polaris Prize for Degeneration Street. In 2017, they released the album Times Infinity, released in two volumes and built like a puzzle. Lovers Rock shares an atmosphere similar to that of the superb No Cities Left from 2003. Lightburn compares the current period to the post-9/11 moment. First comes shock and paralysis (“Instant Nightmare!”), then a feeling of powerlessness in front of a situation that’s beyond us (“Stille Lost”, “No Place On Earth”). There’s nothing defeatist about this album, however, as its lyrical arrangements give us a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. Even if a rebirth seems far away, Lightburn helps us to imagine it on the ballads “Play Dead” and “Too Many Wrongs”. Rather than shutting ourselves up in a destructive past or an uncertain future, the Dears’ album perhaps offers a third option: facing the fear of living in the present.

Latest 360 Content

Éléonore Lagacé and “Brûlez-moi vive”: pop on fire

Éléonore Lagacé and “Brûlez-moi vive”: pop on fire

Gloin – All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)

Gloin – All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)

Pro Musica | Piano prodigy Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: “serious”, “introverted” and… extremely refined

Pro Musica | Piano prodigy Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: “serious”, “introverted” and… extremely refined

Boubé – Voyager

Boubé – Voyager

Whispering Worlds – Cosmic Cliffs

Whispering Worlds – Cosmic Cliffs

ContaQt/Yaz Lancaster/Evan Ziporyn – ConneQt IV

ContaQt/Yaz Lancaster/Evan Ziporyn – ConneQt IV

Nick Storring – Mirante

Nick Storring – Mirante

Housewife – Girl Of The Hour

Housewife – Girl Of The Hour

The girls slay Turbo Haus

The girls slay Turbo Haus

marcel – ô fornaiz

marcel – ô fornaiz

Bella White: a newer country bluegrass star

Bella White: a newer country bluegrass star

Classic Rock… Hard Rock… Bob Rock… The Damn Truth!

Classic Rock… Hard Rock… Bob Rock… The Damn Truth!

Dicko Fils: on the road to modernity for the Fulani people

Dicko Fils: on the road to modernity for the Fulani people

Ana Krstajić et Joey Reda – Confluence

Ana Krstajić et Joey Reda – Confluence

CC Duo/collectif9 – Re/String

CC Duo/collectif9 – Re/String

Jan Lisiecki – Preludes

Jan Lisiecki – Preludes

Ariane Roy – Dogue

Ariane Roy – Dogue

Model/Actriz – Cinderella

Model/Actriz – Cinderella

Major.Moran – Bunker à ciel ouvert

Major.Moran – Bunker à ciel ouvert

Ariane Moffatt – Airs de Jeux

Ariane Moffatt – Airs de Jeux

Molt – King Lobster Krew

Molt – King Lobster Krew

Ensemble ArtChoral, Matthias Maute : Art Choral vol. 6 : Moderne 

Ensemble ArtChoral, Matthias Maute : Art Choral vol. 6 : Moderne 

The 24 Voices of MIMC: A Preview of The 2025 Edition With Artistic Director Shira Gilbert

The 24 Voices of MIMC: A Preview of The 2025 Edition With Artistic Director Shira Gilbert

Men I Trust – Equus Asinus

Men I Trust – Equus Asinus

Subscribe to our newsletter