THE DEARS, MMX: (L-R) PATRICK KRIEF, JEFF LUCIANI, MURRAY LIGHTBURN, NATALIA YANCHAK, ROBERTO ARQUILLA, ROBERT BENVIE.


The Dears form dream team of all-stars from yesteryear to create “album of their lives.”

Fate. Destiny. The crossing of worlds. In our lives, it is the rare phenomenon when such convergences result in possibilities of rebirth.

Since 1995, The Dears of Montreal, QC, has been vexing critics, astonishing audiences, and stupefying peers. Now, in an almost celestial bridging of space and time, a new incarnation has emerged, re-introducing personnel from the band’s earliest years as “orchestral pop romantiques” to more recent forays of epic stage destruction.

Presenting: The Dears.

Returning after a decade’s absence is Roberto Arquilla, whose dextrous bass work on the debut End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story helped define the band’s sound. Shirking the spotlight for the mixing desk—contributing sonic expertise to several of The Dears’ records and live sound for Stars, The Stills, and more—he now returns at this crucial juncture to bring back his effortless cool.

Guitarist and keyboardist Rob Benvie’s first tenure (c. 2002) was brief, but he has unofficially served as consultant and multi-instrumentalist in the years since. Alongside a lifetime of rock with beloved East Coast rockers Thrush Hermit and electro-psych experimentalists Camouflage Nights, Benvie is also a novelist, screenwriter, and purveyor of all things au contraire.

Known for both virtuosic Hendrix-isms and a restless romantic spirit, guitarist Patrick Krief has persevered through some of the band’s brightest and darkest years, from No Cities Left through to Missiles. Leader of Montreal’s diabolical rock ragers Black Diamond Bay and a prolific solo artist on his own, Krief returns with his own breed of genius and madness.

Post-Missiles, The Dears found themselves in need of new blood behind the drums. They immediately knew where to look: for years rumours had swirled of a hotshot trapsmaster lurking around the Niagara region. After a lengthy, year-long hunt, we introduce the mighty Jeff Luciani, who was finally tracked down and enlisted to anchor the mayhem.

Singer/composer/multi-instrumentalist Murray Lightburn has been portrayed in many lights: a tortured genius, a perfectionist, a man on a near-spiritual quest for redemption through song. There may be truth to all or none of these claims.

Natalia Yanchak is The Dears’ keyboardist, vocalist, conceptualist and matriarchal referee. She brings the crucial yin to Lightburn’s yang: the necessary calm during the band’s fiercest storms.

As recording sessions for their fifth album approach, the band calls on their diverse wealth of experience for one unified purpose: to craft the best album of their lives. Composing and arranging together for the first time, the result is a sound harkening to classic Dears—but, unmistakably, something new.

The Dears will be bringing these songs to audiences live—not only before the next release, but even before entering the studio during an extended stint in Mexico City this May. For more info on the residency: http://bit.ly/bpsLBY

It is 2010. At fifteen years old, The Dears is entering its rebellious adolescence. Indeed: expect riots.