More about: The Dears

It’s been three years, but Canadian indie rock band The Dears are back in full force with their eighth studio album, Lovers Rock. Here, the group attempt to experiment even further with their beloved rock sound and succeed greatly for the most part with its smooth flow, interesting lyrics, and great production value. 

‘Heart of an Animal’ kickstarts the record with a mighty bang, perfectly setting the tone for the other tracks to come after it. An incredible drum beat by Jeff Luciani continues throughout the song, accompanied with a silent but powerfully steady guitar melody, which carries almost effortlessly over to ‘I Know What You’re Thinking And It’s Awful’. 

One thing that many Dears fans can agree on is that every album they have ever produced sounds truly fantastic. All of these melodies and instruments come together on each track to create a wholly rewarding record that you will want to listen to over and over again. This was most evident on their 2015 album Times Infinity Volume One, as they experimented with more melancholy tunes while also still maintaining the fun and joy from previous records. 

The closest thing we get to melancholy here is with the track ‘Instant Nightmare!’, which does a fairly good job at presenting lyrics such as, “This is an instant nightmare, and it’s like we’ll never wake up” and not making them sound cheesy thanks to the excellent vocals from lead singer Murray A. Lightburn, whose soothing vocals are essentially hypnotic throughout the entire record. 

Unfortunately, there are a number of songs here that sound remarkably similar to their previous efforts, namely ‘Play Dead’ and ‘Stille Lost’, which feel disappointingly tired and seem to recycle instrumentals from the aforementioned Times Infinity albums. But, regardless, The Dears have crafted yet another album that is sure to please nearly all of their fans. 

Lovers Rock is released on 15 May 2020 via Dangerbird Records.

More about: The Dears