The Dears, or shall we say, Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak and whoever’s in Montreal at the time, have been around for a while, actually, as their not so small output shows, more than twenty years.
But that might be hard to say, since they seem to crop in and out of the shadow, once in a while and dazzle with their soundtrack-like songs and lyrics to decipher. After all, they are from Montreal, the city of Cohen, Mr. Leonard Cohen.
So here they, are, back again with Times Infinity, Vol.2. If, you’ve missed Vol.1 backtrack two years to 2015. But do you need to, is it essential because the two albums are intricately connected or can the Vol. 2 stands on its own?
Here the answer could be - both. Lightburn and Yanchak were always mood merchants, a good one at that. They always liked to have this light and shadow play, both its music and lyrics and in that respect, the two volumes are interconnected. On the other hand, the shadows on Vol. 2 are longer and darker. “Taking It To The Grave”, “Nothing In It For Me, Nothing In It For You”, “Until Deathrow”… If you are in a bad mood and have this album playing, stay away from open windows… But then, the late, great Mr. Cohen of Montreal could definitely conjure some gloomy images.
On the other hand, Lightburn always had such a great touch with a good melody that would suck you in and let you be enchanted until a verse or a couplet would sucker punch you.
No difference here. You still feel that David Bowie, Morrisey or Nick Cave, both musically and lyrically have become an integral part of The Dears sound. And it has become their sound and nobody else's. Maybe that is why the band has such a huge following over on the British Isles. The only thing this time around you get a big (dark) musical cloud with no track jumping out as a song that would be hitting the airwaves (online waves?) often and be some sort of a hit. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, because you will either leave Times Infinity, Vol.2 for some other (more cheerful?) times, or play it incessantly. Your choice.
