Deidre & the Dark - Variety Hour (2019)

Who says “retro” can’t be the new “new”? The best music of any time has always built off that of the past, and to diminish the value and importance of musical influence is a disservice to the thousands of artists who preceded us and laid the groundwork for today. While we might associate some sounds with a certain era (think ’70s disco, ’60s Motown, or ’50s rockabilly), all of these styles are fluid and still evolving to this day, as is evidenced by the myriad artists who are making that music and innovating within their respective fields.

It is with this in mind that we experience Deidre & The Dark’s Variety Hour as a brilliant amalgamation of the past and present: A bright, transformative record of identity and experience, femininity, life, love, and everything in-between.

The creative project of Savoir Adore founding member and ex-frontwoman Deidre Muro, Deidre & The Dark is an entity entirely unto itself. Muro establishes her artistry as a unique and wholly distinctive from her former bandmate Paul Hammer, pulling heavily from the classic pop of what we tend to call “1960s girl groups” while making equal use of modern rock and pop instruments, effects, and affectations.

True to its name, Variety Hour is a little bit of a lot of things: A successful experimentation that finds the artist doing what she wants, when she wants, how she wants. Deidre Muro is free to be herself, and she is basking in the glow of creative liberty.

“My husband David Perlick-Molinari and I worked on the songs of “Variety Hour” on and off over many years, so the release of this album is an extremely meaningful moment in time for us,” Muro tells Atwood Magazine. “It was inspired by the great TV variety shows of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, with each song having its own imagined production within the show. I hope the record brings you as much joy as its brought to us. Cue the lights!”

This is an album you and your parents, and your grandparents will enjoy. Intentionally or not, Deidre & The Dark has stumbled upon a new classic sound, energizing music of the past to give it new life in the 21st Century. Experience the full record via our exclusive stream, and peek inside Deidre & The Dark’s Variety Hour with Atwood Magazine as Deidre Muro goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her debut album!