That level of communication is really kind of special, and not done a lot in rock ‘n’ roll.”Īs for the drive behind going solo (again), Lightburn understands the assumption that this is a vanity project, but he argues that the opposite is true. Whenever I tell that to the audience - I just met these musicians today, this morning, and we’re playing a show together - they can’t believe that that’s what they’re seeing. It’s the same music, but there’s an energy there that I can’t even explain because half the time I’m meeting with these people for the first time and we’re going to play a show together that night. And it gives me a chance to work with local musicians when I can. “I like playing with strings a lot, and it doesn’t happen a lot - people don’t see that a lot. He’s enlisted different musicians in Toronto, Mexico City, London and L.A., as well as for this week’s show in Montreal. I don’t have to fiddle with pedals and, you know, point at the audience and sweat in a leather jacket or something (laughs).”Ī string quartet is accompanying Lightburn on some of the dates, but not the same one. It’s terrifying, but it’s also amazing, because it’s super liberating and it’s really bringing me closer to songs in general. “I really wanted to write stuff that I could play by myself because that’s how I’m touring: mostly by myself, just me and a guitar.
On stage, Lightburn has the spotlight almost all to himself. Absent from the record is the Dears’ second in command (and Lightburn’s wife) Natalia Yanchak, while producer Howard Bilerman provided a break from self-producing. What differentiates this set of songs from Dears material isn’t just the sound - with its echoes of pop, soul, doo-wop and gospel from the 1950s ’60s and ’70s, it’s a departure both from the band and from Lightburn’s solo debut, the synth-soul experiment MASSLIGHT - it’s the personnel. “It’s not like I wanted to be as different as possible from the Dears,” Lightburn says, “it’s that this project reflects a side of me that I really have to make a little island for myself to embrace.” 2, singer Murray Lightburn made a second solo album called Hear Me Out, a record propelled by a familiar songwriting style and a sound that rings classic - a little vintage, perhaps, but mostly timeless. During the ongoing downtime that followed the tour for their latest record Times Infinity Vol. The Dears have been a pillar of the Montreal music scene for nearly a quarter century, a milestone that will be celebrated by the “art-alt-orchestral-pop-rock” band next year.
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