Dears Deal With Leak

Release dates have become meaningless. If Band X really expect their hot, new album to be unveiled on a set day, they're being naive. After all, the internet means any record worth the hype (and many more that aren't) leak online early and are up for illegal grabs well ahead of schedule.

Consequently, The Dears (frontman Murray Lightburn, keyboardist Natalia Yanchak and five new faces) weren't particularly surprised — but were still a little disappointed — when their new Missiles album launched into cyberspace out of their control.

Truth be told, they're not so much worried about freeloading downloaders as they are about the chance people won't really listen to the entire album.

"Now that it's leaked, we want people to listen," Yanchak says on the phone from Montreal. "That's it.

"It's not necessarily more important to us that they buy the album. If there's a 'right thing to do,' it's to listen to the album — the entire album — and more than once before you pass judgment."

By the band's own admission, Missiles isn't instantly catchy. It demands your full attention.

"It's almost unapologetically not a 'first-listen' record," Lightburn says. "When you're reading Dickens, it's gonna be more than halfway through before you realize what the book's even about.

"It's something heavy. And this album is something heavy."

Unfortunately, it's getting rarer for people to hear albums from beginning to end. This means really listening — not just having music play in the background while you read, run, cook, work, whatever. Sadly, focused listening is becoming a lost art in a time of iPod shuffles.

"We're not making music for the modern age," says Lightburn. "This is anti-modern age.

"We're living in a time when music is extremely disposable. People can find anything they want to hear for free. There's a danger everything's taken for granted and nothing's being savoured."

Some artists have praised the internet for allowing more people to sample music. Others have decried it for enabling people to steal songs without giving musicians their due. For Lightburn, a large part of the problem is that the way many people appreciate and consume music seems to be changing.

"The digital age has not been art's friend. In terms of getting it out, sure, the internet's great. But there's also an adversarial effect on people's minds on the way they perceive and take in art. And anyone with a laptop can download an album, half-listen to it once, and blog a review that's then read by everyone."

For a band like The Dears, the albums have always only been part of the story, though. Over the years, the Montreal pop-noir romanticists have built a deserved reputation for killer live shows. Those who've attended their concerts know full well the performance commands full, undivided attention.

Of course, with a quintet of new players joining Yanchak and Lightburn, it will be interesting to see how older ammo in The Dears' canon is fired. For now, Yanchak is looking forward to just getting back to packed clubs.

"I was really missing being on the road. I love touring. I love playing live. I think it's a chemical imbalance. When you do a show, it's exhausting, but it's also euphoric. It's like a rush. On a tour, you can be so tired, but then there's one amazing show and it's so affirming. Doing that every night and connecting with people makes you realize why you make music."

Even in the modern age, it's always worth it when the audience is listening.

The Dears play these Canadian dates:

Oct. 1 Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah w/Gentleman Reg
Oct. 2 Montreal, QC @ Masonic Memorial Temple w/The World Provider (Pop Montreal)
Oct. 9-10 Toronto, ON @ The Music Gallery w/The World Provider (Oct. 10 only)