The Dears have announced Return To Lovers Rock, an expanded digital edition of their most recent album, Lovers Rock. The new release comes as the Montreal band prepare for a stretch of UK shows.
The new collection adds five acoustic recordings, including the single “I Know What You’re Thinking And It’s Awful (Acoustic)” which is available today for streaming on all digital platforms.
The Dears’ Natalia Yanchak said: “We originally released Lovers Rock in 2020. It was an album we were, and are still, very proud of. Murray and I recorded an acoustic session just before we released the album. Again, back in 2020 we spent the day at Hotel2Tango studio in Montreal — we put out the videos of some of these sessions, but now can finally share the audio on this deluxe upgraded version of the album, Return to Lovers Rock. It’s kind of like Return to the Planet of the Apes: we can’t not go back there. There’s unfinished business down on Lovers Rock, so it’s time for a spin off!”
The release of Return To Lovers Rock kicks off a whirlwind Autumn for the Montreal band. The Dears’ return to the road for a long-delayed tour of the UK and Europe kicks off at the Reeperbahn Festival, followed by a run of newly-announced dates in Mexico.
“After all this time, the re-re-rescheduling of tour dates and the re-re-re-anticipation of playing shows — it’s a little hard to believe these shows in September/October are finally going to happen!” Yanchak added. “We’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s faces out there, and singing some songs together like we did in the old days.”
Marking a triumphant return for the band, The Dears are guaranteed to deliver a cathartic set packed with classics from their 8 albums alongside material from their latest release ‘Lovers Rock’.
The record saw Murray Lightburn (vocals, guitar, “other”) and Natalia Yanchak (vocals, piano) joined by longtime drummer Jeff “Looch” Luciani as well as Steve Raegele(guitar) and Rémi-Jean LeBlanc (bass), and also featured a string section, a cameo from fellow Montrealer Sam Roberts and saxophone from both Alex Francoeur and the E Street Band’s Jake Clemons.
Now, over twenty-five years since the release of their debut album release, the cult band fronted by the husband-and-wife duo of Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak will be returning to the UK for a short stretch of live shows in Autumn 2022.
THE DEARS UK TOUR DATES 2022
FRI 30 SEP 2022 – Cambridge, UK @ Portland Arms
SAT 01 OCT 2022 – Liverpool, UK @ District
SUN 02 OCT 2022 – Glasgow, UK @ Hug & Pint
TUE 04 OCT 2022 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
WED 05 OCT 2022 – London, UK @ The Garage
THU 06 OCT 2022 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange
THE DEARS – RETURN TO LOVERS ROCK
TRACK LIST
1 – Heart Of An Animal
2 – I Know What You’re Thinking And It’s Awful
3 – Instant Nightmare!
4 – Is This What You Really Want?
5 – The Worst In Us
6 – Stille Lost
7 – No Place on Earth
8 – Play Dead
9 – Too Many Wrongs
10 – We’ll Go Into Hiding
11 – I Know What You’re Thinking And It’s Awful (Acoustic)
12 – Instant Nightmare! (Acoustic)
13 – Is This What You Really Want? (Acoustic)
14 – Too Many Wrongs (Acoustic)
15 – We’ll Go Into Hiding (Acoustic)