The Dears – Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful!
Montreal indie stalwarts The Dears return with a ninth album full of the joys of life
The Dears’ 2003 breakthrough album, No Cities Left, seemed to emerge fully formed and just at the right time. Their orchestral pop swagger was lapped up by UK audiences attuned to The Divine Comedy and Belle and Sebastian, and seemed to foreshadow the impending gold rush which really kicked off when Arcade Fire released Funeral. The intervening two decades may have seemed quiet for The Dears, but in fact, they never went away. Album after album of endearing melancholy has led them to this, their ninth production, which sees them pondering the meaning of life in their own bittersweet way.
Male/female vocal duo Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak trade leading lines, with a sound that's always proved difficult to pin down – though it will be familiar to fans of Blur, or The Sundays. On Doom Pays they channel the glam-rock stomp of peak period Roxy Music, complete with wailing sax, while Tears of a Nation sounds like Pet Shop Boys covering The Smiths. Twenty years on, The Dears still have a vital, driving passion that deserves a wider UK audience.
Listen to: Doom Pays, Tears of a Nation, Tomorrow and Tomorrow