MURRAY A. LIGHTBURN – frontman of The Dears announces solo UK tour + new single – Listen Now

MURRAY A. LIGHTBURN - frontman of The Dears announces solo UK tour + new single - Listen Now

Having spent the spring and early summer on tour in his native Canada supporting Metric followed by Death From Above 1979, singer-songwriter Murray A. Lightburn has just announced a set of UK and RoI dates in the early autumn. The tour will promote his new album, ‘Hear Me Out’, which was released in late February on Dangerbird Records and has garnered praise from publications on both sides of the Atlantic.

A brand new single from the album entitled ‘Changed My Ways’ boasts an accompanying video directed by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. Explains Lightburn: “I texted Kevin and said…hey I need to make a music video. The next morning he called me with a great idea. We plopped it into my partner Natalia’s lap and within a couple of weeks the whole thing was done. And it turned out amazing. That’s how the pros do it. I trusted Kevin completely. He is supremely talented, especially at bringing people together to complete a vision, great or small. I will always have the utmost respect and love for him.”

Check out ‘Changed My Ways’ – BELOW:

Responds Drew: “I love the record Murray made and was drawn to see him changing in and out of different characters for this song. We grabbed an incredible director of photography, Antoine Benhini, and went to work on reflecting the words visually.”

‘Hear Me Out’ sees Lightburn take a step away from his lengthy catalogue as frontman of esteemed indie rock band The Dears to focus on his craftsmanship and composition. Working with famed producer Howard Bilerman (Leonard Cohen/Arcade Fire/Godspeed You! Black Emperor) to sculpt the sounds, Lightburn brought together a stellar group of musicians to bring his work to life, including jazz guitarist Steve Raegele, bassist Rémi-Jean Leblanc, drummer Jeff Luciani (The Dears), plus singers Catherine McCandless (Young Galaxy) and Ariel Engle (La Force/Broken Social Scene).

The end result is a lush, romantic strings-and-soul record, unabashedly inspired by 50’s crooners, 60’s girl groups, Muscle Shoals and Motown. From the shimmering ‘Belleville Blues’ to the gospel slow jam ‘I Give Up’  to the celebratory ‘To The Top’, Hear Me Out is made up of ten fragile, unforgettably gorgeous pop songs about family, adult relationships and what you might call non-toxic masculinity.
“This album is about grown-up stuff,” says Lightburn. “Having kids, sustaining careers and relationships,
finding that thing that keeps you together in the midst of other circumstances that could tear you apart. The reason why the album is called ‘Hear Me Out’ is because it’s not only about expressing yourself, but listening too. Being able to communicate in a relationship is utterly crucial if you’re gonna survive anything.”
 
MURRAY A. LIGHTBURN UK & RoI TOUR SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019

26.09.19 Manchester Deaf Institute *
28.09.19 Bristol Colston Hall Foyer
29.09.19 Newton Abbot Kingskerswell Parish Church
30.09.19 Leicester The Musician
01.10.19 London Union Chapel **
02.10.19 Cambridge Portland Arms
03.10.19 Newcastle Think Tank? Underground
04.10.19 Sheffield Picture House **
06.10.19 Glasgow Hug & Pint **
08.10.19 Dublin Ruby Session
09.10.19 Waterford Phil Grimes Pub

* with Stars
** with Dan Mangan

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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