Dear Reader - Down Under, Mining

If you're a fan of beautiful things, the new video from Dear Reader should be just your thing. Down Under, Mining has been given a gorgeous shadow-puppet video to tell its story, which is every bit as evocative as the song itself.

The video also gives a glimpse ahead to Rivonia, the new album due out on April 8th and the third to come from Dear Reader, also known as Cheri MacNeil.


South African-born MacNeil was educated just round the corner from where, on July 11th 1963, 19 members of the African National Congress were arrested - and her third album pays tribute to that period of her life.

The arrests were largely a matter of chance - police had been told of meetings between black and white individuals at a location named Ivon; in fact, the meetings were happening at Rivonia, but several letters of its sign had faded.

MacNeil says: "That sign, with its faded lettering, makes me think about history as a whole, and how the versions we have must all have bits that have weathered away and gone missing, and how we'll never know the whole truth about anything.

"There are so many different realities overlaid on top of one another, but each of us only has the version we know."

If you're not afraid to incorporate issues like apartheid and slavery into your music collection, you can pre-order Rivonia by clicking the button below, and download it from April.

Dear Reader - Idealistic Animals

We get this week off to a start with a slightly overdue look at Idealistic Animals, new from Dear Reader and officially released last week.

It's a fairly complex record, touching on Dear Reader protagonist Cheri MacNeil's loss of religion during recent years, but the cynicism is far from overwhelming. Instead, there's a broad spectrum of emotion here.

Your exact emotional response to Idealistic Animals probably depends on your own state of mind when you start listening - I get the feeling it's the kind of music you can mould and shape to meet your needs. Despite that, this is an album with plenty of personality, and it suggests MacNeil's going to be just fine without religion on her side.

Dear Reader - Bear (Young's Done In)

The second of today's Free Music Fridays posts is this preview of Dear Reader's upcoming album Idealistic Animals, due out on January 9th 2012.

Bear (Young's Done In) continues the theme of animals, which is apparent in the titles of all the tracks on the disc, and also carries its fair share of vocalist Cheri MacNeil's newfound cynicism.

I have to admit, in my typically lazy approach to having unfounded expectations about music, I was waiting to hear a male voice on this track, but Cheri's relaxed vocals were more than welcome.

Preview below, and click the appropriate arrow to get your free download...



We'll be listening out for the full album and bringing you a proper album review at the turn of the year - personal favourite titles to look out for include Whale (BooHoo).

Until then, you'll have to satisfy yourselves with Bear (Young's Done In)...!