Music

SCION SESSIONS: Murray Lightburn talks going solo with "MASS: LIGHT"

by Mark Teo

We’ve long admired the work of Murray Lightburn, whose work with The Dears earned him a rightful place in Canadian music canon. (Heck, we even declared 2006’s Gang of Losers one of Arts and Crafts’ most defining LPs.) So, when the Montrealer announced that he’d be going solo, we were plenty excited: With his MASS:LIGHT LP, Lightburn hinted that he was moving in darker, more cerebral, and more complex directions. Indeed, when we last spoke to him, he promised an album that sounded nothing like The Dears, but in the best possible way—and boy, did he ever deliver.

MASS:LIGHT was an exercise in polarity: It was an electronic opera outing. It was a gothic pop album, straddling the line between dark and light. And while it was an ambitious outing, it still showcased Lightburn’s ability to craft consistent earworms. We caught up with him at M for Montreal to talk about the decision to go solo, the electronic direction of his new songs, and how he managed to combine the influences of Slaughterhouse Five and Jesus Christ Superstar.

That, and Lightburn tells us how to properly eat a Montreal bagel. Check the vid above.

Meanwhile, Scion Sessions also premiered an acoustic rendition of “MASS:LIGHT.” Check the track out below.