Dead Can Dance are
pleased to announce details of a brand new album entitled ‘Dionysus’,
which is set for
release on 2nd November via [PIAS] Recordings.
ACT I : Sea Borne -
Liberator of Minds - Dance of the Bacchantes
ACT II : The Mountain -
The Invocation - The Forest – Psychopomp
Pre-order the album and
find tour dates & tickets here:
Formed in Melbourne in
1981 by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the style of Dead Can Dance
over eight previous
studio albums can be described as compelling soundscapes of
mesmerising
grandeur and solemn
beauty that has incorporated African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk,
Gregorian
chant, Middle Eastern
mantras and art rock.
Ever since the group's
inception, the duo have also been informed by folk traditions from
all over
Europe, not solely in
musical terms but also by secular, religious and spiritual practises.
The idea
behind ’Dionysus’
comes from this backdrop and was shaped as Brendan Perry explored the
long
established spring and
harvest festivals that originated from Dionysian religious practices,
a journey
that brings to the fore
rites and rituals that are still practised to the present day.
Two years in the
making, Perry has amassed an array of folk instrumentation on
‘Dionysus’ while
taking inspiration from
across the world, with tracks evolving less like songs and more akin
to
fragments of the
cohesive whole. The album also incorporates field recordings that
include chanting,
beehives from New
Zealand, bird calls from Latin America and a Swiss goatherd. The aim
in Perry’s
mind is to not just
invoke the atmosphere and symbolic reference points but to highlight
that music
can be found everywhere
in some form or other.
The album consists of
two acts across seven movements that represent the different facets
of the
Dionysus myth and his
cult and takes the form of an oratorio, which has informed both
spiritual and
secular pieces of music
as far back as the early 16th century. Retaining a prevalent hold on
contemporary paganism
in Europe, the voices used on these movements are imagined as
communities celebrating
- in communion with each other at times, chanting and call and
response.
The various voices are
present to convey emotion beyond the boundaries of language itself.
Although taking its
main inspiration from the Dionysus story, the album artwork resonates
with links
to rituals depicting a
mask made by the Huizhou of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico –
famed
for their beadwork and
yarn paintings, whilst also partaking in peyote as a sacred rite and
ritual for
the purposes of healing
and mind expansion. This is at the heart of Dionysus, a celebration
of not
just humanity but
humanity working hand in hand with nature in respect and
appreciation.
Dead Can Dance will
embark on an extensive European tour throughout May and June 2019,
celebrating their life
and works from 1980 to the present day. Confirmed dates are:
May 02: Le Liberte,
Rennes, France
May 04 / 05:
Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK
May 07 / 08: Cirque
Royale, Brussels, Belgium
May 10 / 11: Grand Rex,
Paris, France
May 13 / 14: Tivoli
Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
May 16 / 17: Tempodrom,
Berlin, Germany
May 20 / 21: Barts,
Barcelona, Spain
May 23 / 24: Aula
Magna, Lisbon, Portugal
May 26 / 27: Teatro
Degli Arcimboldi, Milan, Italy
June 16: Alte Oper,
Frankfurt, Germany
June 18 / 19:
Ruhrcongress, Bochum, Germany
June 21 / 22: Torwar
Hall, Warsaw, Poland
June 24: Kongresove
Centrum Praha, Prague, Czech Republic
June 26: Papp Laszlo
Budapest Sportarena, Budapest, Hungary
June 28: Sava Centar,
Belgrade, Serbia
June 30: Roman Theatre
Of Philippopolis, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
www.deadcandance.com
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