>>PREVIEW
THE DEARS
Thursday, November 23
MacEwan Ballroom (U of C)
More than half a decade since their debut, The Dears are still misunderstood. Despite the Montreal band’s protestations, music rags the world over have done everything in their power to peg them as an overly dour and self-serious lot.
Not that there wasn’t fodder for that argument. Both in their meticulously orchestrated albums and their messily cathartic performances, The Dears have always excelled at projecting an apocalyptic atmosphere. Add in a historically tumultuous lineup, a singer who occasionally channels one of rock’s most morose crooners and a fondness for us-against-the-world dramatics, and you can see where at least some of that lazy journalism sprang from. But the band never bought into it.
"Is it really that dark?" asks Valérie Jodoin-Keaton, keyboardist and flautist for the band. "Maybe it’s true that our music is a little heavier, but we don’t feel depressed or anything. We’re a pretty funny bunch, we really don’t take ourselves seriously. So, whenever people say ‘why are you so dark,’ we don’t see ourselves that way."
The Dears’ lighter side has become more prominent recently. Their latest release, this year’s Gang of Losers, relies less on the crushing drama of past works and more on anthemic tracks like the album-opening "Ticket to Immortality." Singer and lyricist Murray Lightburn has even been known to strap on a keytar in concert, a sure sign that he isn’t taking things as seriously as some detractors believe. There’s no single reason for the change in musical attitude, but it is something that the band members have noticed.
"The core of the band has been together for a while," Jodoin-Keaton offers as explanation, "and that gives hope already, just that fact. And, talking about all of us, we’ve had this band for seven long years, and I’ve been in it for four years. And you can pick other obvious facts, like (Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak’s) wedding and baby, all of that can really help – but it wasn’t anything specific, just the passing of time."
With all of the positive developments in the band members’ lives, it’s no surprise the music has shifted moods to match. The Dears are a band known for wearing their emotions on their sleeves, and while some critics have taken shots at what they see as melodrama, the band has always insisted on its sincerity. Jodoin-Keaton and the rest of the group learned to ignore such criticism long ago, but the implication that they’re in any way faking it onstage still draws a bitter response.
"Any journalist has their own good and bad days," she says. "But to be honest with you, I think personally anybody who pretends that what we’re creating is not true, is pretty much full of shit. You can say that you like the music and that you don’t like the music, that’s OK. But to pretend that we don’t believe in what we’re saying, if someone were to say that to me, I’d tell them to get a life."
Clearly, honesty is a top priority for The Dears – even their recording process has changed to suit their desire for openness. Their last album, 2004’s No Cities Left, was as much a testament to the power of the recording studio as anything else. For all of its lush orchestration and pitch-perfect performances, it lacked some of the grit The Dears bring to the stage. For Gang of Losers, the band abandoned digital technology altogether. The idea was to make a more natural recording, one that captured all of the energy and imperfections that keep music vital.
"Whenever we played live shows for No Cities Left, we were told that the live shows were better than the album itself," says Jodoin-Keaton. "So we decided to try to capture that a bit more, to try to make an album that reflected what we were playing. It was definitely a much more exciting way to record. When you’re on your toes, you tend to bring out a little more emotion in your playing."
If Gang of Losers proves anything, it’s that the Dears are determined to keep their music vital. And if that means confounding critics rather than kowtowing to expectations, so be it. They may remain misunderstood, but they wear that status well. |
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