Dead Can Dance: Anastasis

“We are the children of the sun,” sings Brendan Perry, moaning like a half-drunk Vincent Price over a strangely unsettling orchestral trip-hop groove. “There is room for everyone / sunflowers in our hair.” But this sure ain’t no freaking summer of love. Anastasis, the first studio album in 16 years from Australian duo Dead Can Dance, harnesses the brooding, multi-culti sonic perfectionism you’d expect from these highly regarded veterans (singing multi-instrumentalists Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard), with loads of glowing bagpipes and Chinese hammer dulcimer and operatic chants and ominous synths. But Anastasis is also bloated and overly precious—even at...  read more