The Dears' Murray Lightburn preps solo LP, scored new film ‘I Like Movies‘
The Dears‘ frontman Murray A Lightburn has a busy March ahead. At the end of the month he’ll release his second solo album, Once Upon a Time in Montreal. Murray calls it “an audio version of a biopic,” and it was inspired by the passing of his father in 2020. It’s out March 31 via Dangerbird and you can listen to two songs from it below.
Lightburn also scored new coming-of-age film I LIke Movies which is out this Friday. It’s about a “socially inept 17-year-old cinephile, Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen)” who “gets a job at a video store, where he forms a complicated friendship with his older female manager.” You can watch the trailer for the film below.
I Like Movies was written and directed by first time filmmaker Chandler Levack who says, “Murray has crafted the greatest score in Canadian cinematic history for I Like Movies. When thinking about who could best articulate the emotional landscape of an angsty teenaged Blockbuster employee, I turned to the musician who got me through high school. Growing up in Burlington, Ontario, the 2003 album No Cities Left by The Dears was the only thing that helped me survive. The emotional intensity of Murray’s songwriting and sweeping orchestral configurations that turned Montreal ennui into perfect indie rock healed my soul and gave me some indication of what my future could look like. I was so honoured when Murray agreed to score my first feature film. We had an incredible collaboration when he wrote an original rock song for my first short film ‘We Forgot to Break Up’ and working with him on my first feature was an equal joy. The soundtrack to I Like Movies is quirky and heartbreaking with iconic earworms that give the Ontario suburbs their first-ever cinematic closeup. I’m so grateful to Murray for creating such a beautiful score and so excited for audiences to get to experience it.”
The I Like Movies soundtrack is also out this Friday and you can check out the tracklist below.
Once Upon a Time in Montreal:
1. Dumpster Gold
2. No New Deaths Today
3. In The Kingdom Of Heaven
4. The Only One I Want To Hear
5. Oh But My Heart Has Never Been Dark
6. Reaching Out For Love
7. Once Upon A Time In Montréal
8. Girl You’ve Got To Let Me Go
I Like Movies: Original Music From The Motion Picture:
01. Main Theme
02. Welcome To Sequels
03. I’m Gonna Hire You
04. I Love Doing Inventory
05. The Greatest Boss You Have Ever Had
06. Two Tickets To Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love, Please
07. I See You As A Placeholder
08. Do I Have To Wear The Sash?
09. Lawrence Walks Home
10. You Don’t Deserve A Frosty
11. Wild Things
12. So Your Mom Told Me About Your Dad
13. Do You Think I Could Just Sleep In The Store?
14. What Is Your Malfunction Lawrence?
15. Lawrence And His Dog
16. Hey!
17. Imagine The Ocean In Castaway
18. It Just Never Ends With You
19. Year End Movie
20. Steel Magnolias
21. We’ll Always Have Reject’s Night
22. Mr. Sub
23. Main Theme II (End Credits)
