Dead Can Dance

In the early ‘80s, when Dead Can Dance began combining proto-gothic sounds with renaissance instruments and world music, there was no term for their chosen style; decades later, there still isn’t. After playing in separate projects in Melbourne, Australia’s post-punk scene, Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry formed Dead Can Dance in 1981. Moving to London soon after, they landed on the 4AD label with their eponymous 1984 debut and contributed to This Mortal Coil’s same-year It’ll End in Tears, an album that helped popularise Dead Can Dance’s brand of medieval melancholy. Their syntheses of eras and styles became more ambitious and more erudite with 1990’s Aion and 1993’s Into the Labyrinth, albums that incorporated a growing interest in soulful sounds from the far corners of the globe. After a period spent focused on their respective solo projects, Dead Can Dance reunited with 2012’s Anastasis, resuming their pursuit of timeless sounds, ancient rituals and spiritual essence.