Biography
One of the definitive goth bands, albeit with an exploratory musical edge, Dead Can Dance was formed in 1981 by singer Lisa Gerrard and singer/guitarist Brendan Perry, then a couple and both disenchanted with the punk-based music they'd been playing. After a move from Melbourne to London the duo (then with bassist Paul Erikson and drummer Peter Ulrich) signed to 4AD and released their self-titled debut in 1984. Unlike much of their later work, the debut was easily compared to other bands, notably Cocteau Twins and The Cure. Beginning with the follow-up, 1987's Spleen and Ideal, Gerrard and Perry (who'd now shed the rest of the lineup) opened their sound to sacred and symphonic music, and European Renaissance folk elements. The existentially-themed lyrics, and Gerrard's rapturous vocal delivery, added to the headiness of the experience. By the early '90s Dead Can Dance had a worldwide cult following; they even had a hit single of sorts when "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove"-a Middle Eastern stomp from their sixth album, Into the Labyrinth--hit commercial alternative radio. n a world tour behind that album (captured on the live set Toward the Within they played mainly unreleased material and expanded their use of percussion, bringing Turkish and Oriental elements into the mix (along with a surprise cover of Sinead O'Connnor's "I Am Stretched On Your Grave"). They were by this time the best selling artists on the influential 4AD label. The percussive direction continued on Spiritchaser, which added four drummers (including the returning Peter Ulrich) to the lineup. But by this time Gerrard and Perry, who had both made solo debuts and were long split as a couple, were growing apart from each other, and chose to disband while a follow-up album was nearly complete. True to their name, Dead Can Dance wound up enjoying an active afterlife. During 2005 they reunited for a tour of North America and Europe, released many of the shows as limited-edition CD's, and then went separate ways again. The next reunion came in 2011, when Perry announced that a world tour would be built around new material. This emerged on the next year's Anastasis (whose title is a Greek word meaning resurrection), the first new album in 16 years. Two years after the tour wrapped up, Perry announced that he had sold his Quivvy Church Studio, their longtime recording base, leaving Dead Can Dance's future in doubt. However he broke a silence in April 2018, to announce that they'd relocated to Abbey Road in London and that a new album was being mastered.
