Probably the best moment is The Worst Of Us though, which has a chorus designed for jumping up and down to in a sweaty venue (remember them?) before a key change that somehow recalls Madness, and goes off in a whole new direction. The wistful Too Many Wrongs sounds like it could be a bonus track from Blur‘s Think Tank album while the woozy, disorientating Stille Lost (featuring Jake Clemons, son of the late, great Clarence on saxophone) nods towards Albarn’s The Good The Bad & The Queen project.įor those looking for musical soundtracks to the current global situation, then Instant Nightmare! may prove suitable – it’s where The Dears turn up the bombast slightly with a big string section and lyrics like “This is an instant nightmare, and it’s like we’ll never wake up”. Lightburn is on fine form throughout – vocally, he’s been compared to Morrissey for most of his career, but on Lovers Rock he’s more like a downbeat Damon Albarn. It’s a stirring opening and leads into the even better I Know What You’re Thinking And It’s Awful, which takes the tempo down a bit, but is no less brooding and unsettling for that. Heart Of An Animal kicks things off in fine style, with an intro which nods to David Bowie‘s Heroes before Lightburn bellowing “lunacy feed our souls”. Yet, as usual, Lightburn and his wife Natalia Yanchak – the main driving forces behind The Dears – have created some epically orchestral arrangements that turn potentially depressing music into something exhilarating. Song titles like I Know What You’re Thinking And It’s Awful, Instant Nightmare and We’ll Go Into Hiding give an impression of what to expect. Lead singer Murray Lightburn has already noted the parallels between No Cities Lost and Lovers Rock, saying that you could draw a direct line between the two records, “like they’re interconnected”.Īnd it’s certainly true to say that Lovers Rock is no barrel of laughs. Seventeen years later, we have a global pandemic, an imminent worldwide recession, and a new Dears record. Their breakthrough album, 2003’s No Cities Left, was released into an uncertain post 9/11 world, dominated by war and threats of economic collapse and its doomy yet romantic sound seemed to capture the mood of the times. The Dears have form when it comes to soundtracking the most traumatic events of our lives.

Murray lightburn damon alborn