# dead can dance dead can dance ![[deadcandance9.jpg|300]] dead can dance at primavera sound in barcelona spain 2013: background information origin: melbourne australia genres: - neoclassical dark wave- world- ambient- art rock- avant-garde- gothic rock (early)- post-punk (early) years active: 1981–1998 2005 2011–present labels: 4ad warner bros. rhino/atlantic rykodisc pias members: lisa gerrard brendan perry past members: paul erikson simon monroe james pinker scott rodger richard yale peter ulrich john bonnar website: deadcandance.com dead can dance are a british-australian band founded in melbourne in 1981 by brendan perry and lisa gerrard before relocating to london the following year. the australian music historian ian mcfarlane described dead can dance's style as "constructed soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty; african polyrhythms gaelic folk gregorian chant middle eastern music mantras and art rock." having temporarily disbanded in 1998 they reunited in 2005 for a world tour and again in 2011 to release and tour the album anastasis. they released ir most recent album dionysus in 2018 and toured europe in 2022 # # formation and early years dead can dance were formed in melbourne australia in august 1981 with paul erikson on bass guitar lisa gerrard (ex-microfilm) on vocals and percussion simon monroe (marching girls) on drums and brendan perry (also of marching girls) on vocals and guitar. gerrard and perry were a couple who met as members of melbourne's little band scene. dead can dance's earliest official release a home recording of the song "fatal impact" appeared on the december 1981 issue of fast forward. by this stage the band had become headliners at melbourne's main post-punk venue the crystal ballroom in st kilda and played an australian farewell show there in may 1982 before moving to london england where they signed with alternative music label 4ad. with the duo the initial united kingdom line-up were paul erikson and peter ulrich the group's debut album dead can dance was released in february 1984. the artwork which depicts a ritual mask from new guinea "provide a visual reinterpretation of the meaning of the name dead can dance" set in a faux greek typeface. the album featured "drum-driven ambient guitar music with chanting singing and howling" and fit in with the ethereal wave style of label mates cocteau twins. they followed with a four-track extended play (ep) garden of the arcane delights in august. allmusic described ir early work as "as goth as it gets" (despite the group themselves rejecting the label) while the ep saw them "plunging into a wider range of music and style" for ir second album spleen and ideal the group comprised the core duo of gerrard and perry with cello trombone and tympani added in by session musicians. released in november 1985 it was co-produced by the duo and john a. rivers. raggett describes it as "a consciously medieval european sound like it was recorded in an immense cathedral." the group built a following in europe and the album reached no. 2 on the uk indie charts. in 1989 gerrard and perry separated domestically - gerrard moved to barcelona before returning to australia and perry moved to ireland - but still wrote recorded and performed as dead can dance ![[brendan-and-lisa01414177761344o.jpg|300]] perry and gerrard in 1989 the duo's sixth studio album into the labyrinth was issued in september 1993 and dispensed with guest musicians entirely; it sold 500000 copies worldwide and appeared in the billboard 200. the band became 4ad's highest-selling act. they followed with a world tour in 1994 and recorded a live performance in california which was released as toward the within with video versions on laserdisc and vhs (later on dvd.) many unofficial bootlegs of concerts spanning its career exist containing several rare songs that were only performed live. toward the within is the duo's first official live album which reached the billboard 200 and was followed by in concert 19 years later. gerrard released ir debut solo recording the mirror pool and reunited with perry on the dead can dance studio album spiritchaser in 1996. the album also charted on billboard 200 and reached no. 1 on the top world music albums chart # # disbandment and reunions in 1998 dead can dance began recording a follow-up album to spiritchaser which was due to be released in early 1999 followed by a planned world tour. however they separated before it was completed and canceled the tour. one song from the recording sessions "the lotus eaters" was eventually released on the box set dead can dance (1981-1998) and on the two-disc compilation wake (2003.) gerrard teamed with pieter bourke (snog soma) to issue duality in april 1998. perry released eye of the hunter in october 1999 ![[deancandance4.jpg|300]] dead can dance 2005: gerrard at centre right; perry at extreme right dead can dance reunited in 2005 and released limited-edition recordings of thirteen shows from its european tour and eight recordings from the subsequent north american tour as well as a compilation titled selections from europe 2005. these concerts were recorded and released on the show record label. in 2005 the song "nierika" became part of the opening titles for mexican television station tv azteca's soap opera la chacala on 12 may 2011 brendan perry announced on ir official web forum that dead can dance would record a new album and then embark on two-month world tour. the band made a formal announcement about its world tour and new album anastasis for a release date of 13 august 2012 in late 2011 the band announced a reunion world tour including 12 us cities to be accompanied by the release of a live album on a new label. the tour was scheduled to begin on 9 august 2012 in canada and continue until 19 september 2012 in turkey 21 and 23 september in greece 13 october in russia then 28 october 2012 in ireland then mexico and south america and then in lebanon and finally australia in february 2013. on 15 november 2012 it was announced that the band would be returning to europe to continue its tour starting on 28 may 2013 in portugal. the final show of the anastasis world tour was in santiago chile on 13 july 2013. on 17 october 2014 the band announced that plans for an upcoming european tour for spring 2015 had been cancelled "due to unforeseen circumstances" ![[deadcandance,istanbul,september19,20120.jpg|300]] dead can dance at cemil topuzlu open-air theatre istanbul 19 september 2012 ![[logoofenglish-australianmusicalgroupdeadcandance-bl.jpg|300]] original text logo formed from the three letters dcd which is used on the website to date on 8 september 2015 the band announced the sale of brendan perry's quivvy church studio. on 21 april 2018 perry announced mastering of a new album would be commencing at abbey road studios. the new album dionysus was released on 2 november 2018 in september 2018 ir website announced "a celebration - life & works 1980-2019" tour with dates in europe in may and june 2019. in contrast to previous tours the setlist drew heavily from the band's older catalogue featuring some songs the band had never before played live. in october 2019 the band announced a second leg of the tour with dates in north america mexico and south america. however the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic. the 2021 tour as well as rescheduled dates for later in the year were also cancelled citing covid-19. in march 2022 perry anticipated plans for a new album influenced by indian music and new arrangements and rehearsals for an upcoming tour. a 2022 european tour did take place and a second european leg was scheduled for the later in the year as well as a north american leg for 2023. however in september 2022 the band announced the cancellation of both the second european leg as well as the north american dates citing unspecified health reasons in may 2023 lisa stated in an interview that they thought that dead can dance was "really finished now" citing artistic differences on the making process of dionysus and the setting of the tracklist from ir last tour as they thought that this situation "started to wean itself away from the kind of connection that we had together." in april 2025 brendan confirmed that ey was working on an album sequel to dionysus called apollo expected to be finished by the end of the year. later in may 2025 ey confirmed it would be a new dead can dance album but as a solo work and cited that ey was now the main member of the band as lisa was too "when they decides to show up" **+** dead can dance (1984) **+** spleen and ideal (1985) **+** within the realm of a dying sun (1987) **+** the serpent's egg (1988) **+** aion (1990) **+** into the labyrinth (1993) **+** spiritchaser (1996) **+** anastasis (2012) **+** dionysus (2018) // republic of bob