The Dears at Village Underground, London: Epic operatic sound at a show shrouded in anticipation

The band take no time to settle into their enthralling set

The Dears perform at Village Underground (Dannee Peppi)

The Dears made their return to the UK with an enthralling show at London’s Village Underground.

The band, led by husband-and-wife duo Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak, took to the stage to the sound of “The Imperial Death March”, its epic operatic sound setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

It took no time for the band to settle in, opening with “We Lost Everything” from their most recent studio album and clearly having fun with this form of psychedelic rock; complimented by an impressive light show creating an atmosphere befitting of the soundtrack.

Dipping into the archive, the Montreal natives played tracks spanning their 22-year career as a studio band. Lightburn called it a “reward, punishment, reward, punishment set – old song, new song, old song, new song”.

“5 Chords”, “Disclaimer” and “Here’s to the Death of Romance” follow before the hopelessly romantic “You and I are a Gang of Losers” saw Lightburn turn from the crowd directing his passion, performance and words to his wife, Yanchuk.

An encore allowed for Lightburn to return to the stage solo, performing moving acoustic renditions of “We Can Have It” and “There Goes My Outfit” before being joined by the rest of the band for “The Second Part” and closing with “22: The Death of all Romance”. This is a show that was shrouded in anticipation, and The Dears certainly don’t disappoint.