Video Premiere: The Dears’ “I Used to Pray For the Heavens to Fall”

In the mid-2000s, the Montreal music scene exploded, with bands like Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and The Unicorns drawing international recognition with their brand of artful, accessible indie rock. One of those bands was The Dears, a stalwart of orchestral, anthemic rock that formed all the way back in 1995, and that on September 25 will release their first album in four years,

Times Infinity Volume One

. And because every band must adjust to the times, The Dears have gone ahead and released a lyric video for their new single, "I Used to Pray For the Heavens to Fall."

"Believe it or not, this is our very first lyric video," Dears lead singer and founding member Murray Lightburn told us. "We asked our pal Sinbad to create something special, something that would appeal to everyone, young and old. What he delivered was a lyric video that made Natalia cry 

the

first time she saw it." Lightburn is referring to Dears keyboardist  and his wife, Natalia Yanchak, who was probably reacting to the clip's themes, which hit close to home. "Murray came by to sit down and talk about 

the

video and 

the

overall sentiment of

Times Infinity,

" said the video's director, Sinbad Richardson. "

The

point that mostly inspired 

the

concept for I Used To Pray For 

The

Heavens to Fall was when he described 

the

feeling when Natalia and 

the

kids leave

the

house and he has a deep sinking feeling of concern for them. I thought this was a dark and sweet notion of family and 

the

story applies that notion to a young couple that are torn apart by entomology. I can't say how 

the

Hercules beetle character came to be, it really just popped in my head once I started thinking of 

the

story on an insect level.