Dangerbird Records (label)
03 February 2017 (released)
21 January 2017
After a six-year hiatus, The Dears return with their latest album, Times Infinity Volume One.
The two remaining stalwarts in the changing line-up of Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak promised tales of “unconditional love, longing and a debilitating fear of loneliness”. And to be fair that’s pretty much what they deliver, from the first frenetic piano strains of opener ‘We Lost Everything’, to the casually morbid bookend ‘Onward And Downward’.
If you have ever wondered what a depressed and paranoid love song sounds like, then look no further than ‘I Used To Pray For The Heavens to Fall’.
Lightburn, cries “whose side are you on, whose side are you on?”, Before going on to opine, that “no one’s called here in days, no one ever calls here these days…” and “it’s not safe” is repeated continually throughout the song. Despite praying for the heavens to fall the only thing that can bring solace is being, “hole up in here with you”.
The most interesting thing about this track is the way in which it couples it’s chilled guitar style, with cold synthesizer, and some nice background vocals, which really brings home the feeling of being depressed and lonely against the backdrop of a grey and gloomy world.
Thematically, the album seems constantly to be fighting against the threat of isolation. ‘To Holed And Have’ sees Lightburn pleading for a relationship, that while battered and bruised, is the only one that can keep him sane. Meanwhile, ‘Death Of Romance’, pragmatically slaves away for a life-sustaining fellowship, and ‘You Can’t Get Born Again’ insists that in spite of their faults the couple cannot escape each other’s pull.
Whether it’s the lyrical references to fighting against the odds, and the end of the world, or death, and horror, it’s constantly reinforced that fellowship is the metaphorical island of tranquillity against the storm of life. It boils down to the simple, if cheesy sentiment, of love against the world.
In keeping with that spirit, the band’s blend of rock, backing vocals, classical accompaniment, and electronic sound often lends the LP a melancholic feel. Thankfully there are exceptions to this rule, with the up-tempo piano driven opener of ‘We Lost Everything’ and the Animals flavoured homage to horror, ‘Face Of Horror’.
Sonically the listener is put in the mood of the storytellers. Unfortunately, when the storytellers express sentiments like “In the end one will die alone, in the end we will die alone” it’s just a little too downbeat.
