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Dead Can Dance

From Alfawiki
Dead Can Dance
Company typeMusical group
IndustryMusic
Founded1981 in Melbourne, Australia
FounderBrendan Perry, Lisa Gerrard
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsStudio albums, live albums, tours

Dead Can Dance is a musical group originating from both Britain and Australia, established in Melbourne in 1981 by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard. The band moved to London a year later. Australian music scholar Ian McFarlane characterized their sound as "crafted sonic environments of captivating majesty and profound elegance," merging elements of African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern music, mantras, and art rock.

Following their split in 1998, the group reunited for a global tour in 2005 and again in 2011 to promote and tour their album Anastasis. Their most recent release, Dionysus, came out in 2018, accompanied by a European tour in 2022.

Origins and initial period

Dead Can Dance was formed in Melbourne in August 1981, initially comprising Paul Erikson on bass, Lisa Gerrard (formerly of Microfilm) on vocals and percussion, Simon Monroe on drums, and Brendan Perry handling vocals and guitar. Gerrard and Perry connected within Melbourne’s Little Band scene. Their first official recording appeared as "Fatal Impact" in the December 1981 edition of Fast Forward. They quickly became prominent performers at Melbourne’s post-punk hotspot, the Crystal Ballroom, before relocating to London in 1982 where they signed with the alternative label 4AD. The early UK lineup featured Paul Erikson and Peter Ulrich alongside the founding duo.

Their self-titled debut album, Dead Can Dance, released in February 1984, showcased drum-based ambient guitar textures combined with chanting and vocal harmonies, aligning with the ethereal wave genre shared by label peers like Cocteau Twins. The album cover featured an image of a ritual mask from New Guinea, visually reflecting the band's name. This was succeeded by the August release of the four-track EP Garden of the Arcane Delights, which broadened their stylistic range.

The follow-up album, Spleen and Ideal (November 1985), included contributions from session musicians playing cello, trombone, and tympani alongside Gerrard and Perry. Co-produced with John A. Rivers, it conveyed a medieval European ambiance as if recorded within a vast cathedral. Achieving No. 2 on the UK indie charts, this album helped expand their audience across Europe. Although Gerrard relocated to Barcelona then Australia while Perry settled in Ireland by 1989, they maintained their collaboration under the Dead Can Dance name.

Rise to prominence

Their sixth studio effort, Into the Labyrinth (September 1993), was created without guest musicians, sold half a million copies globally, and charted on the Billboard 200. This success made them the top-selling act on the 4AD label.[1] Following this release, they embarked on a worldwide tour in 1994 and issued a live recording from California titled Toward the Within, available on Laserdisc, VHS, and subsequently DVD. This marked their first official live album, which also reached the Billboard 200 chart. Nineteen years later, they released another live album entitled In Concert.[2] During this period Gerrard launched her solo debut The Mirror Pool, before rejoining Perry for the 1996 studio album Spiritchaser, which charted on Billboard 200 and secured the top position on the Top World Music Albums Chart.[2]

Disbandment and reunions

In 1998, Dead Can Dance initiated work on a successor to Spiritchaser, aiming for a release in early 1999 accompanied by a global tour. However, the group disbanded before finishing the project, resulting in the tour's cancellation.[3] From these sessions, the track "The Lotus Eaters" was later included on both the box set Dead Can Dance (1981-1998) and the compilation Wake released in 2003. During this period, Gerrard collaborated with Pieter Bourke to produce the album Duality, which came out in April 1998, while Perry released his solo album Eye of the Hunter in October 1999.[1]

The band reunited in 2005, issuing limited-edition live recordings from thirteen concerts across Europe and eight shows in North America, along with the compilation Selections from Europe 2005. These releases were distributed through The Show label. Additionally, in 2005, their track "Nierika" was featured in the Mexican soap opera La Chacala broadcast by TV Azteca.[4]

On 12 May 2011, Brendan Perry revealed plans for a new album alongside a two-month global tour.[5] Subsequently, the band officially announced their world tour and the release of their album Anastasis, set for 13 August 2012.[6]

The reunion tour kicked off on 9 August 2012 in Canada, covering North America, Europe, Mexico, South America, Lebanon, and Australia through early 2013. Additional European dates were scheduled for mid-2013. The Anastasis World Tour concluded with its final performance on 13 July 2013 in Santiago, Chile.[7] Plans for a European tour in Spring 2015 were ultimately cancelled due to unforeseen issues.[8]

On 8 September 2015, the band disclosed the sale of Brendan Perry's Quivvy Church Studio.[9] Later, on 21 April 2018, Perry announced that mastering was underway for a new album at Abbey Road Studios.[10] This album, titled Dionysus, was released on 2 November 2018.[11]

In September of that year, the band revealed plans for "A Celebration – Life & Works 1980-2019," a European tour scheduled for May-June 2019 that would showcase rarely performed older songs. A subsequent leg covering North America, Mexico, and South America was announced for late 2019 but postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These rescheduled dates were also cancelled as a result of ongoing pandemic concerns. In March 2022, Perry mentioned intentions to create a new album inspired by Indian music while preparing for an upcoming tour.[12] Early to mid-2022 saw a European tour take place; however, planned additional European dates and North American shows later that year were cancelled due to health issues.[13]

Studio albums

Sources

  • Aston, Martin. Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD. The Friday Project, 2013.

External links

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