Biography
"Depending on whom you ask, Matthew Dear is a DJ, a dance-music
producer, an experimental pop artist, a bandleader. He co-founded both
Ghostly International and its dancefloor offshoot, Spectral Sound. He’s
had remixes commissioned by The XX, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Spoon, Hot
Chip, The Postal Service, and Chemical Brothers; he’s made mixes for the
Fabric mix series and Get Physical’s Body Language. He
maintains four aliases (Audion, False, Jabberjaw, and Matthew Dear),
each with its own style and distinct visual identity. He straddles
multiple musical worlds and belongs to none—and he’s just hitting his
stride.
Matthew Dear’s 2003 full-length Ghostly debut, Leave Luck to Heaven,
is a suite of sparse, wickedly funky house laced with Dear’s deep,
distinctive vocals, and includes the much-loved single “Dog Days” (voted
one of Pitchfork’s Top 100 Songs of the Decade). The record was met
with rapturous acclaim from both the dance-music establishment and the
critical press, including a four-star review in Rolling Stone. Dear’s
2007 follow-up,
Asa Breed, is a considerable departure from Heaven’s
dancefloor excursions, incorporating the polyrhythms of Afrobeat, the
irreverent pop sensibilities of Brian Eno, and the austere beauty of
Krautrock. More four-stars reviews followed (Q and Mojo magazines), and
Dear subsequently began touring with a live three-piece band, Matthew
Dear’s Big Hands, in which he acted as frontman, commanding the stage
with a Bryan Ferry-like swagger and a gentleman’s grace.
Today, Matthew Dear finds himself in a unique position. His highly anticipated fourth album, 2010’s Black City,
is the culmination of years of hard work and experimentation, a darkly
playful sound-world that envelops the listener like the arms of a
malevolent lover. After over a decade of exploring pop’s outer limits,
Matthew Dear now inhabits a rarefied corner of the musical universe: no
longer tethered to any one genre, respected by his peers, and blessed
with a bottomless well of creative energy. Now is Matthew Dear’s moment,
and it sounds like nothing else."From: http://www.matthewdear.com/info/
producer, an experimental pop artist, a bandleader. He co-founded both
Ghostly International and its dancefloor offshoot, Spectral Sound. He’s
had remixes commissioned by The XX, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Spoon, Hot
Chip, The Postal Service, and Chemical Brothers; he’s made mixes for the
Fabric mix series and Get Physical’s Body Language. He
maintains four aliases (Audion, False, Jabberjaw, and Matthew Dear),
each with its own style and distinct visual identity. He straddles
multiple musical worlds and belongs to none—and he’s just hitting his
stride.
Matthew Dear’s 2003 full-length Ghostly debut, Leave Luck to Heaven,
is a suite of sparse, wickedly funky house laced with Dear’s deep,
distinctive vocals, and includes the much-loved single “Dog Days” (voted
one of Pitchfork’s Top 100 Songs of the Decade). The record was met
with rapturous acclaim from both the dance-music establishment and the
critical press, including a four-star review in Rolling Stone. Dear’s
2007 follow-up,
Asa Breed, is a considerable departure from Heaven’s
dancefloor excursions, incorporating the polyrhythms of Afrobeat, the
irreverent pop sensibilities of Brian Eno, and the austere beauty of
Krautrock. More four-stars reviews followed (Q and Mojo magazines), and
Dear subsequently began touring with a live three-piece band, Matthew
Dear’s Big Hands, in which he acted as frontman, commanding the stage
with a Bryan Ferry-like swagger and a gentleman’s grace.
Today, Matthew Dear finds himself in a unique position. His highly anticipated fourth album, 2010’s Black City,
is the culmination of years of hard work and experimentation, a darkly
playful sound-world that envelops the listener like the arms of a
malevolent lover. After over a decade of exploring pop’s outer limits,
Matthew Dear now inhabits a rarefied corner of the musical universe: no
longer tethered to any one genre, respected by his peers, and blessed
with a bottomless well of creative energy. Now is Matthew Dear’s moment,
and it sounds like nothing else."From: http://www.matthewdear.com/info/