Dear Boy

“The night is falling… because I want it to.“

Dear Boy is the torch bearer of lyric forward guitar music and melody focused indie rock. The band has become an important voice in the LA underground music scene, crafting bittersweet songs inspired by late 70’s / early 80's post-punk and early 90's britpop, seen through their unique modern lens.

With three EP’s and a bouquet of singles, Dear Boy has earned an immense and loyal following, selling out headline shows from the Troubadour to The Teragram and touring with the likes of The Psychedelic Furs, James, Pete Yorn, Day Wave, Palace, Rogue Wave, Sunflower Bean, DMA’s, The Airborne Toxic Event & Peter Murphy. Recent festival appearances include Corona Capital 2019 (Mexico City), Estéreo Picnic 2022 (Bogotá, Colombia) and Pa’l Norte 2022 (Monterrey, Mexico). And Dear Boy recently recording a live set on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. 

In 2021 Dear Boy completed their debut full length album and in 2022 signed with Last Gang Records. The release will be Dear Boy’s first collaboration with the legendary label. Produced by the band and mixed by Tony Hoffer (Air, Phoenix, M83), the record also features contributions from Day Wave, Hazel English, Rogue Wave, AFI & Ian Hultquist of Passion Pit. The album is called “Forever Sometimes.”

The album expands on the band’s signature sound, this time also pulling from shoegaze, new wave, 80’s indie rock and dream pop while still maintaining Dear Boy’s unique modern sensibilities. But above all the album is about cohesion. 

This album and honestly, the band itself, is a study in “goodbyes.” Life after death, love after life, life after love, the paradox of closeness, the complexity of what it means to leave something or someone behind, when do you say goodbye…? These are some of the ideas that we’ve been exploring since our first days as a band… And in that way, Forever Sometimes is as close to a concept album as a non-concept album gets. 

A lot of this record is about our shared time on Earth and the idea that for so many of us, love is truly the hereafter we’re looking for. The night sky isn't any one person's territory. There are answers up there for everybody.

The album is also meant to feel like a full life lived. From the non-denominational “Evensong” to “Unbecoming” to “Marrying For Love” to “Die” to “Heaven Moves.” Forever Sometimes is a full circle emotional journey and a microcosm of the human experience. The first and last song on the album share the same ethereal voice which we employed to be a call to the listener… asking you to live this life again. 

Since we were producing it ourselves, we wanted to infuse as much of our shared personal history into the details as we could. The underground train you hear before Swan Dives is the Northern Line, which we would ride every day when first started Dear Boy in London. The acoustic at the end of Heaven Moves is from the very first demo recorded in Keith’s bedroom. Unbecoming features a quote from the 40’s that goes; “The people of the state of California expect us to do our best…” Something my Dad would say to me all of the time when I was a kid… There isn’t a moment on this album that doesn’t feature something important, unique or special to us. It’s the most personal record any of us could have imagined making.

We were ultra specific with every single element of this record while still keeping a sense of unpredictability in the studio. Everything about this album is us. The perspective, the sound, the intention. Our loves, our friends, our words. This is us completely. And it’s the record we’ve been chasing since the day we formed this band.

Dear Boy is a band of best friends from Los Angeles, California. Ben Grey (vocals / guitar), Austin Hayman (guitar), Keith Cooper (drums) and Lucy Lawrence (bass / vocals).

Dear or Die. 

“It’s as close to a concept album as a non-concept album gets,” says singer Ben Grey. “A lot of this record is about our shared time on Earth and the idea that for so many of us, love is truly the hereafter we’re looking for.” Opening with the non-denominational “Evensong” and ending with the axiom filled anthem “Heaven Moves,” this album truly is a journey. “The night sky isn't any one person's territory. There are answers up there for everybody ” says Grey.  

Dear Boy spent over a year recording the album. “We were ultra specific with every single element of this record while still keeping a sense of unpredictability in the studio. Everything about this album is us. The perspective, the sound, the intention. Our loves, our friends, our words. This is us completely. And it’s the record we’ve been chasing since the day we formed this band.”

Dear Boy is a band of best friends from Los Angeles, California. Ben Grey (vocals / guitar), Austin Hayman (guitar), Keith Cooper (drums) and Lucy Lawrence (bass / vocals).

Dear or Die. 

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