The Dears

Formed in 1995, The Dears released their first, ultra lo-fi album, End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, in 2000. The orchestral, dark pop sound and dramatic live shows cemented The Dears at the foundation of the then-emerging Canadian indie-rock renaissance.

In 2001 and 2002, they released two separate concept EPs, "Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique" and "Protest", respectively. In 2003 they released their second full-length album "No Cities Left" in Canada, and a string of highly anticipated shows at SXSW '04 prompted the international release of "No Cities Left" with Bella Union. "Gang of Losers" came in 2006. In 2008 the group partnered with Dangerbird Records to release "Missiles", followed by "Degeneration Street" (2011), "Times Infinity Volume One" (2015) and "Times Infinity Volume Two" (2017). In 2019, Murray A. Lightburn released his solo record, "Hear Me Out".

The Dears have toured the world over, including performances on Letterman (twofold), Jimmy Kimmel, Jonathan Ross and at Glastonbury, T in the Park, Wireless, Montreal Jazz Fest, Siren Festival, Coachella, Austin City Limits, V Fest, Reading and Leeds, Les Inrocks (France), Montreux Jazz Fest, Istanbul Jazz Fest, Pop Montreal, CMW, NXNE and countless appearances at SXSW. They have shared stages with Spiritualized, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Daniel Lanois, Rufus Wainwright, Zemfira, Bloc Party, Keane, Morrissey, The Tragically Hip, Metric and Death From Above, to name a few.