New Music: The Dears – Tears of a Nation

Founded in 1995 and just about to release their ninth album, Montréal, Québec based The Dears show us their music is as important as ever with Tears of a Nation.

The Dears – helmed by Murray Lightburn since their formation – were once compared to The Smiths due to Lightburn’s vocals and his doomily romantic lyrics. On Tears of a Nation, however, the band draw on the full breadth of their sound, placing the track in a place where post-punk and gothic rock co-exist, but with Murray bringing a raw rock presence to bear on the song.

Murray Lightburn says about the song and new album, “I remember when it clicked in my brain what I was writing about. It was soon after we played a series of shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of No Cities Left. I was on stage surrounded by wonderful musicians, playing songs I wrote in my 20s. My kids and my mom were sitting up on the balcony of the theatre. Natalia was just to my right. I told the audience that sometimes it gets tough but that life is beautiful. I asked the audience to say it with me three times: a mantra, a wish; an affirmation.”

“Life is tough. We experience challenges all the time. In our darkest hours we might think it’s never going to be better. But if we can just make it through, we find out what we thought was impossible: that we could smile again, maybe even laugh. We feel our loved ones. We find out how strong we can be. The songs in this record are for everyone and anyone. They are meant to be supportive.”

Adds Lightburn about the accompanying video, which was directed by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene, and Rachel McLean, “The collective battle through noise is noise in itself. There is a decision to engage or to go it alone. To be part of the collective cries or to cry alone. The question here is which approach is the right one? Which path will get us through the noise?”

Tears of a Nation will feature on Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! which comes out on the 7th of November via Next Door Records and can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp. The gold vinyl looks rather nice, I must say.

The Dears play a run of Canadian dates later this year, and embark on a short European tour in February. For ticket and venue details, as well as updates on the album, hit up the band’s Instagram and Facebook feeds.

Header photo by Richmond Lam