It’s no coincidence that Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak’s eighth album as The Dears echoes the apocalyptic energy of their 2003 breakthrough No Cities Left, as the world post-9/11 was the last time everybody was this on-edge. While the duo couldn’t have possibly predicted the pandemic we’re undergoing while they were writing the record, there was a general, ambiguous sense of doom mounting over the past few years.
Then again, the driving, vaguely psychedelic rock heard on the group’s new single “Heart of an Animal” doesn’t quite feel intentional, but rather manifests as a subtle infiltration upon an alt-rock cut nostalgic for the mid-’00s. “I’ve been trying to get ‘Heart of an Animal’ on a Dears album for a very long time, but for whatever reason it just never fit,” clarifies Lightburn. “Now it kicks off and sets the overall tone of Lovers Rock. It was by far the most difficult song to sing for me as it hits the very very top of my range.”
“It’s a tender, psychedelic runaway train,” Yanchak adds, noting the trance-inducing chorus. “You should be left wondering where this album is going, and let me tell you…it just gets weirder from here.”
Lovers Rock is out May 15 via Dangerbird Records—pre-order it here. Tour dates for later in the year (fingers crossed) can be found below the video.
08/27 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
08/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
08/30 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
11/10 – Berlin, DE @ Privatclub
11/12 – Istanbul, TR @ Babylon Bomonti
11/13 – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noiree
11/15 – Brussels, BE @ Bontanique Rotonde
11/17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
11/18 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
11/19 – Cambridge, UK @ Portland Arms
11/21 – Glasgow, UK @ Drygate Theatre
11/22 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
11/23 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange
11/24 – London, UK @ The Garage
11/25 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
11/27 – Athens, GR @ The Temple
12/06 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern [early+late shows]
12/10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
12/12 – Washington, DC @ DC9
