Tuesday 21 October 2008
Disclaimer
A few weeks ago on on www.thedears.org, Murray Lightburn posted an email exchange between he and a friend about the fact that the new album from The Dears, Missiles, leaked to the internet. It was a pretty straightforward three email exchange that sums up the situation of these modern times: “Albums get made, then they get leaked, then they get released. Oh well.”
“While we are 100% appreciative that people care enough, The Dears are still pretty old-school,” the post goes on to say. “…Even though it’s kind of cool, we can’t help feeling a little bit devastated.” Noting that fans can either a) download the leaked album right away, b) wait and buy it when it’s released, or c) both, The Dears say that “whatever option you choose, we truly hope you enjoy it. We are excited and terrified all at once.”
No need to be scared, Mr. Lightburn. Pardon the pun, but Missiles is a direct hit. It is the band’s finest work to date. Missiles is a huge album that cannot be contained by traditional pop song constructs; the shortest song here is 3:43, the longest 11:21; the rest fall within the 4:00 to 8:00 minute range. They manage to sustain interest not through repetitive chord changes or elongated space rock jams, but through pure, honest to goodness songwriting that compels you to listen to find out how the melody is going to resolve itself, or where the song is going to go next.
That aforementioned shortest track, “Crisis 1 & 2″ is a perfect example of this. It begins with Natalia Yanchak (Mrs. Murray Lightburn) sweet singing over a slightly stuttering classic Dears drum and bass line, that opens up via some crisp guitar licks that almost sound late 70s California-rock inspired; then around the 2 minute mark things get a big darker, a bit slicker, and Lightburn and the Mrs. change vocal positions (he sang backing for her on the first half of the track) until the song’s close.
Missiles is a massive, multi-layered affair, and it’s in no hurry to get from here to there. It’s a decidedly downtempo pace throughout the album’s 10 tracks, but when the music is this beautifully rendered you don’t mind taking your time to stop and smell the roses. Lyrically speaking, the mood is all about atonement, redemption, and rebuilding what once was. Lightburn repeatedly asks the listener for forgiveness or for a second chance, or to scrap everything and start all over again. There seems to be more religious references than on the band’s other songs here to, the most overt being the album’s epic closing track, “Saviour”. “Dream Job” has my favourite Lightburn vocal performance on the album. It’s not his greatest lyrics, but his voice is the most emotive and emotional I’ve ever heard it sound, especially in the chorus when he says, “You’ve got dreams of taking someone else’s dream away”. he sounds tired, war weary, and says “I’m sick of playing the blues”. Tear-inducing, and poignant, given the fact that Lightburn and Yanchak were the only two band members left by the time the album was finished. Some day, the story of how this album got made is going to make a great addition to the 33 1/3 book series.
The Dears will be playing across the U.S. this month in support of Missiles. You can check for dates in and around your present location on the newsletter page of their official site. Missiles is being released by Dangerbird Records in the world outside Canada, MapleMusic will still be carrying them in the True North, Strong and Free.
MP3: The Dears “Meltdown In A Major”
Video: The Dears “22: the Death of All the Romance”
Video: The Dears “Ticket To Immortality”
Myspace: The Dears
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