Dead Can Dance are an Australian neoclassical darkwave band from Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. The group’s debut album, Dead Can Dance, was released in February 1984. The artwork, which depicts a ritual mask from New Guinea, “provide[s] 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.
For their 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.
The duo’s sixth studio album, Into the Labyrinth, was issued in September 1993 and dispensed with guest musicians entirely; it sold 500,000 copies worldwide and appeared in the Billboard. 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 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 her 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.
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 cancelled the tour. One song from the recording sessions, “The Lotus Eaters”, was eventually released on the box set Dead Can Dance (1981-1998). 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 8 September 2015, the band announced the sale of Brendan Perry’s Quivvy Church Studio. When asked what this decision meant for the future of Dead Can Dance, Perry responded on the band’s official Facebook page that the band has relocated to France and that they are in the process of fabricating a new recording and rehearsal studio. In April 2018, Perry announced mastering of a new album would be commencing at Abbey Road Studios. The new album, Dionysus, was released in November 2018. In September 2018, their 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.
