Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance is an Australian music duo from Melbourne, Victoria. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981 and relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "constructed soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty; African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern music, mantras, and art rock."[2]

Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California, during the Anastasis tour in August 2012. Left to right: Brendan Perry, Lisa Gerrard
Background information
OriginMelbourne, Australia
Genres
Years active1981–1998, 2005, 2011–present
Labels4AD, Warner Bros., Rhino/Atlantic, Rykodisc, PIAS
Associated actsThe Scavengers, The Marching Girls, Junk Logic, Microfilm, Heavenly Bodies, Pieter Bourke
Websitedeadcandance.com
MembersLisa Gerrard
Brendan Perry
Past membersPaul Erikson
Simon Monroe
James Pinker
Scott Rodger
Richard Yale
Peter Ulrich

Having disbanded in 1998, they reunited briefly in 2005 for a world tour and reformed in 2011 when they released and toured a new album, Anastasis. They released a new album in 2018 called Dionysus and are touring again as of mid-2019.

Career

Formation and early years

Dead Can Dance was formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981 with Paul Erikson on bass guitar, Lisa Gerrard (ex-Microfilm) on vocals and percussion, Simon Monroe (Marching Girls) on drums and Brendan Perry (also of Marching Girls) on vocals and guitar.[2] Gerrard and Perry were a couple who met as members of Melbourne's Little Band scene. In May 1982, the band left Melbourne in Australia and moved to London, England, where they signed with alternative rock label 4AD.[3] With the duo, the initial United Kingdom line-up were Paul Erikson and Peter Ulrich.[2]

The group's debut album, Dead Can Dance, was released in February 1984.[4] The artwork, which depicts a ritual mask from New Guinea, "provide[s] a visual reinterpretation of the meaning of the name Dead Can Dance",[5][6] set in a faux Greek typeface. The album featured "drum-driven, ambient guitar music with chanting, singing and howling",[2] and fit in with the ethereal wave style of label mates Cocteau Twins. They followed with a four-track extended play, Garden of the Arcane Delights in August.[2] AllMusic described their early work as "as goth as it gets"[7] (despite the group themselves rejecting the label[5]), while the EP saw them "plunging into a wider range of music and style".[8]

For their second album, Spleen and Ideal, the group comprised the core duo of Gerrard and Perry with cello, trombone and tympani added in by session musicians.[2] Released in November 1985, it was co-produced by the duo and John A. Rivers.[4] Raggett describes it as "a consciously medieval European sound [...] like it was recorded in an immense cathedral".[9] The group built a following in Europe, and the album reached No. 2 on the UK indie charts.[10] In 1989, Gerrard and Perry separated domestically – Gerrard moved to Barcelona before returning to Australia and Perry moved to Ireland – but still wrote, recorded and performed as Dead Can Dance.

Success

Dead Can Dance's albums were not widely available until the early 1990s, when 4AD made a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records. Later, 4AD allied itself with the Beggars Banquet Records Group, which included that eponymous label and XL Recordings in the US, but the band's recordings remained distributed through Warner Bros. Subsequent releases, however, were licensed to Rhino/Atlantic Records, a sister label within Warner Music. Its 1991 compilation A Passage in Time remains with 4AD independently of the Rhino and Warner Bros. deals; it was initially only released in the US.[10]

The duo's sixth studio album, Into the Labyrinth, was issued in September 1993 and dispensed with guest musicians entirely; it sold 500,000 copies worldwide and appeared in the Billboard 200.[11] The band became 4AD's highest-selling act.[2] They followed with a world tour in 1994 and recorded a live performance in California which was released as Toward the Within, with video versions on Laserdisc and VHS (later on DVD). Many unofficial bootlegs of concerts spanning its career exist, containing several rare songs that were only performed live. Toward the Within is the duo's first official live album, which reached the Billboard 200 and was followed by In Concert 19 years later.[11] Gerrard released her debut solo recording, The Mirror Pool, and reunited with Perry on the Dead Can Dance studio album Spiritchaser in 1996.[2] The album also charted on Billboard 200 and reached No. 1 on the Top World Music Albums Chart.[11]

Disbandment and reunions

In 1998, Dead Can Dance began recording a follow-up album to Spiritchaser, which was due to be released in early 1999 followed by a planned world tour. However, they separated before it was completed and canceled the tour.[12] One song from the recording sessions, "The Lotus Eaters", was eventually released on the box set Dead Can Dance (1981-1998) and on the two-disc compilation Wake (2003). Gerrard teamed with Pieter Bourke (Snog, Soma) to issue Duality in April 1998. Perry released Eye of the Hunter in October 1999.[2]

Dead Can Dance, 2005: Gerrard at centre right; Perry at extreme right

Dead Can Dance reunited in 2005 and released limited-edition recordings of thirteen shows from its European tour and eight recordings from the subsequent North American tour, as well as a compilation titled Selections from Europe 2005. These concerts were recorded and released on The Show record label. In 2005, the song "Nierika" became part of the opening titles for Mexican television station TV Azteca's soap opera La Chacala.[13]

On 28 March 2010, in an interview for Bulgaria's Katehizis.com online music magazine, Perry revealed the possibility of a future Dead Can Dance reunion:

"Yes, I've been talking about it with Lisa [Gerrard]. Maybe in the end of next year we'll start work again. We've been talking about doing something like taking a small chamber orchestra – 10 or 15 people – and tour with them. And we have to write songs. We have to write new material – totally new – so the whole, entire set will be a new album. Then we'll go into the studio after the tour, record, produce and release a record as well."[14]

This was confirmed in Brendan Perry's official web forum on 12 May 2011:

"I have been talking with Lisa Gerrard this past week with regard to recording a new DCD album this coming winter. We hope to complete the album by the summer of 2012 and then embark on an extensive two-month world tour in late 2012."[15] The band made a formal announcement about its world tour and new album, Anastasis, for a release date of 13 August.[16]

On 30 September 2011, Dead Can Dance announced the release of a four track EP entitled Live Happenings – Part 1 available for free download from their website. Since December, the EP Live Happenings – Part 2 replaced the first EP. Both EPs contain songs from their 2005 Tour. Since 31 January 2012, the EP available was Live Happenings – Part 3, to be replaced by Live Happenings – Part IV on 20 March 2012.[17]

In late 2011, the band announced a reunion world tour, including 12 US cities, to be accompanied by the release of a new album on a new label.[18] The tour was scheduled to begin on 9 August 2012 in Canada and continue until 19 September 2012 in Turkey, 21 and 23 September in Greece, 13 October in Russia, then 28 October 2012 in Ireland, then Mexico and South America and then in Lebanon and finally Australia in February 2013. On 15 November 2012 it was announced that the band would be returning to Europe to continue its tour, starting on 28 May 2013 in Portugal. The final show of the Anastasis World Tour was in Santiago, Chile, on 13 July 2013.[19]

On 8 September 2015, the band announced the sale of Brendan Perry's Quivvy Church Studio.[20] When asked what this decision meant for the future of Dead Can Dance, Perry responded on the band's official Facebook page that the band has relocated to France and that they are in the process of fabricating a new recording and rehearsal studio.[21]

Dead Can Dance at Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre, Istanbul, 19 September 2012

On 21 April 2018, Perry announced mastering of a new album would be commencing at Abbey Road Studios.[22] The new album, Dionysus, was released on 2 November 2018.[23]

In September 2018, their website announced "A Celebration – Life & Works 1980-2019" tour with dates in Europe in May and June 2019. In contrast to previous tours, the setlist drew heavily from the band's older catalogue, featuring some songs the band had never before played live. In October 2019, the band announced a second leg of the tour with dates in North America, Mexico and South America.[24] However, the tour was postponed to Spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discography
Main article: Dead Can Dance discography

Studio albums

Awards and nominations

Australian Music Prize

The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The commenced in 2005.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018[25][26] Hope Downs Australian Music Prize Nominated

See also

References
  1. James Hannaham (1997). Goth and the Glorification of Suffering in Rock Music. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 91–119. Bela Lugosi's Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Either
  2. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Dead Can Dance (DCD)'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 28 June 2004. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  3. Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 248. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  4. Holmgren, Magnus. "Dead Can Dance". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  5. "dead-can-dance.com". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  6. "Dead Can Dance Within – Lisa Gerrard, Brendan Perry, 4AD Records". dcdwithin.com. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  7. Raggett, Ned. "Dead Can Dance – Dead Can Dance". AllMusicaccess-date=14 April 2013.
  8. Raggett, Ned. "Garden of the Arcane Delights – Dead Can Dance". AllMusicaccess-date=14 April 2013.
  9. Raggett, Ned. "Spleen and Ideal – Dead Can Dance". AllMusicaccess-date=14 April 2013.
  10. Bogdanov, Vladimir. "Dead Can Dance – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusicaccess-date=14 April 2013.
  11. "Dead Can Dance – Awards". AllMusicaccess-date=14 April 2013.
  12. "The Ultimate Dead Can Dance Page". 28 April 1999. Archived from the original on 28 April 1999.
  13. Cecilia Gonzales (26 October 2012). Nierika (La Chacala) - Dead Can Dance (Television production). Mexico. Retrieved 3 August 2020 – via YouTube.
  14. "Metal Katehizis – Интервюта". katehizis.com. 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  15. Perry, Brendan (11 May 2011). "Dead Can Dance New Album and Tour for 2012 – Brendan Perry Forum". brendan-perry.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  16. Pelly, Jenn (11 May 2012). "Dead Can Dance Detail New Album, Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  17. "Download: Dead Can Dance Offer Live Happenings – Part 1 Free!". coma-online.com. 30 September 2011. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  18. "Preorder | Dead Can Dance | In Concert". deadcandance.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  19. "Date for the final show of the Anastasis World Tour". DeadCanDance.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  20. "Quivvy Church Studio". Deadcandance.com. 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  21. "Quivvy Church Studio". Retrieved 28 September 2016 – via Facebook.
  22. "Dead Can Dance set to Release New Album—Their First in 6 Years". post-punk.com/. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  23. "Welcome". Dead Can Dance. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  24. "Dead Can Dance announces 'A Celebration — Life & Works 1980-2020' tour of North America". Slicingupeyeballs.com. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. "Gurrumul wins Australian music prize". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
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