Matthew Dear Beams Out New Album In August

Post-electro avant pop composer Matthew Dear has circled August 27 on his calendar as the date for releasing his fifth studio album Beams.

His last album Black City landed on many best-of-2010 lists - it found Dear moving further away from his techno and house roots, as he embraced the influence of '80s post-punk.

Dear also announced, through his Facebook account, that he has put together a new band for Beams, Ian Chang replacing Mark Maynard on drums and Danny Scales taking over bass duties from John Gaviglio. "My live band is a five-piece now," writes Dear, "I play guitar, control the electronics and sing my songs."

Dear also refers to Beams as a "glossier" album than its predecessors. However, he adds: "But [the songs] are also still full of the obscurity I cannot escape in the studio. I try to write straight forward pop music, but it always comes out askew and off-kilter."  

And, Dear promises that he plans "to tour the world with this new band and album."

Having last week dropped Her Fantasy as the first single from Beams, Dear has also made new non-album cut Crimewaves available. Listen to it here: