Dead Can Dance

History

Dead Can Dance began as a trio in Melbourne in August 1981, with Brendan Perry on vocals and guitar, Paul Erikson on bass, and Simon Monroe on drums. Lisa Gerrard, formerly of Microfilm, soon joined on vocals and percussion. Perry and Gerrard were a couple who met in Melbourne's Little Band scene. The group's first official release, a home recording of "Fatal Impact", appeared on the December 1981 issue of Fast Forward.

By then they were headlining at the Crystal Ballroom in St Kilda. After a farewell show there in May 1982, they moved to London and signed with 4AD. The initial UK lineup included Perry, Gerrard, Erikson, and Peter Ulrich. Their debut album, Dead Can Dance, was released in February 1984, featuring a ritual mask from New Guinea on its cover.

The music was described as drum-driven ambient guitar with chanting and howling, fitting the ethereal wave style of label mates Cocteau Twins. The EP Garden of the Arcane Delights followed in August. For the second album, Spleen and Ideal (November 1985), the core duo worked with session musicians on cello, trombone, and tympani. Co-produced with John A. Rivers, 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 continued to write, record, and perform as Dead Can Dance.

Artistry

Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as constructed soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty, incorporating African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern music, mantras, and art rock. Their debut album was labeled gothic, but by Spleen and Ideal they had turned toward neoclassical darkwave, integrating medieval European music, mythology, romanticism, and religious symbolism. The 1993 album Into the Labyrinth brought ethnic music influences to the foreground.