Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful!, the ninth studio album from The Dears, is a stirring set of eleven uplifting songs that are as passionate as they are urgent. The Montreal band’s first album since 2020’s Lovers Rock finds them questioning, and then celebrating this fleeting time spent on earth. The ups, the downs, the in betweens.

“I remember when it clicked in my brain what I was writing about,” shares singer and composer Murray A. Lightburn. “It was soon after we played a series of shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of No Cities Left. I was on stage surrounded by wonderful musicians, playing songs I wrote in my 20s. My kids and my mom were sitting up on the balcony of the theatre. Natalia was just to my right. I told the audience that sometimes it gets tough but that life is beautiful. I asked the audience to say it with me, three times: A mantra; a wish; an affirmation.”

In the last five years, The Dears performed rescheduled dates in support of Lovers Rock, undertook a run of shows celebrating the No Cities Left 20th anniversary, and band leaders Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak both dove into new, individual creative projects. In addition to the release of his solo album Once Upon A Time In Montreal in 2023, Lightburn brought his orchestral sensibilities to film and TV composing, recently winning a 2025 Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Music in a Documentary for his work on Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story. Meanwhile, Yanchak entered the world of video game production at a Montreal-based studio while also writing her own independent title.

Much like previous albums Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! was mostly recorded at Montreal’s Hotel2Tango. However, in a break from form, the record was made under the constraints of a disciplined and tight production schedule informed by Lightburn’s experience in film and television. The Dears banded together for a week in studio and within a month the record was completed, including final touches and mixing by Lightburn at his home studio, Murmajesty.

The result is a body of work that reflects a confidence in vision that can only be achieved through experience. With Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! The Dears lock into their signature sound and style for songs that are familiar yet innovative, more forward-looking than nostalgic.

Perhaps New York Times bestselling author Jeff VanderMeer says it best, “Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! feels like a new masterpiece and provides further evidence that The Dears are a vital part of the musical landscape, and also just completely doing their own thing, as ever.”

“Life is tough, reflects Lightburn. “We experience challenges all the time. In our darkest hours we might think it’s never going to be better. But if we can just make it through, we find out what we thought was impossible; that we could smile again, maybe even laugh. We feel our loved ones. We find out how strong we can be. The songs in this record are for everyone and anyone. They are meant to be supportive.”

Formed in 1995, The Dears released their first, ultra lo-fi album, End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, in 2000. The orchestral, dark pop sound and dramatic live shows cemented The Dears at the foundation of the then-emerging Canadian indie-rock renaissance. Their live show was described as “the sonic equivalent of seeing the face of god.” In 2001 and 2002, they released two separate concept EPs Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique and Protest, respectively. In 2003 they released their second full-length album No Cities Left in Canada, and a string of highly anticipated shows at SXSW ‘04 prompted the international release of No Cities Left with Bella Union. Their 3rd album, Gang of Losers, came in 2006, was well received by the press, and was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize. In 2008, the band released Missiles, followed by Degeneration Street (2011), Times Infinity Volume One (2015), Times Infinity Volume Two (2017), and Lovers Rock (2020).

The Dears have toured the world over, including performances on Letterman (twofold), Jimmy Kimmel, Jonathan Ross and at Glastonbury, T in the Park, Wireless, Montreal Jazz Fest, Siren Festival, Coachella, Austin City Limits, V Fest, Reading and Leeds, Les Inrocks (France), Montreux Jazz Fest, Istanbul Jazz Fest, Pop Montreal, CMW, NXNE and countless appearances at SXSW. They have shared stages with Spiritualized, Broken Social Scene, Daniel Lanois, Rufus Wainwright, Zemfira, Bloc Party, Keane, Morrissey, The Tragically Hip, Metric and Death From Above, to name a few