Thirteen years since their last full-length, Dead Like Harry are back – wiser, more grounded and with a fresh love for the craft that first bound them together. The newly reformed band will drop Visions of a Dream on Friday 14 November, then walk it straight onto home turf that night with an album launch show at The Greystones.
The reunion was as impulsive as can be for a band once described as “like a Yorkshire E Street Band juggernaut”. It began, fittingly, with the two songwriting siblings, Matthew and Sam Taylor, paying a visit to the Boss himself. “It all started with the drive back from the Springsteen gig,” recalls Matthew Taylor. “Both Sam and I started writing that week. Being at a point in life where you’re looking back as well as forwards – it’s a great place creatively.”
Sam remembers the same jolt of energy. “We went to the show at Villa Park and it was so good it just gave us that re-inspiration for getting the band back together doing some stuff,” he says. “That week we started writing and contacted the other founding members, John Redgrave and Robin Baker.”
From there, momentum built quickly. Producer and multi-instrumentalist John had built Bear Pit Studios at the bottom of his garden in Sheffield, so a hub was established. Former bandmates were sounded out, a couple of new faces joined, and the music flowed.
“It felt so natural,” Sam says. “We weren’t trying to recreate the past. We just started playing together again, writing songs, and recording. Suddenly it all clicked.”
Old DLH records were often road-tested live, then captured on tape. This time they flipped the process. “Previous albums were largely a recording of what we’d spent hours honing in the rehearsal room and on stage,” says producer and multi-instrumentalist John. “Visions of a Dream was built in the studio, throwing ideas at each song. Some songs had as many as 240 tracks. Not all playing at once but they all need dropping in and cutting out and shaping. This studio approach has meant that the songs are rich with parts and textures, both delicate and massive.”
New approaches have meant a natural shift in sonic palette, thanks in part to Redgrave’s introduction of gear like the UDO Super 6 synth and Erica Synths Perkons drum machine – somewhat unlikely tools for a band often associated with bluesy Americana influences.
Sam expands on the evolution: “There’s drum machines and synths in there… mixed with the more 70s classic singer-songwriter sounds. It’s found a beautiful space – 80s-tinged, but still raw and rootsy.”
Lyrically, Visions of a Dream mines memory and reflects on their journey from their mid-noughties hype days to now. Matthew sketches the arc: “‘Afterglow’ is about the memories of the busy years. ‘Boardwalk Nights’ is the venue where we learned our craft. ‘August’ is about those early years – teenagers to young adults in Sheffield – then the touring years and festivals. ‘Visions….’ felt like a dream sequence through my life – it seemed to write itself.”
That last song became the album’s compass. Written “on a cold February evening” at the piano, Matthew brought it in the next day. John suggested a drum loop and to “soak the production in synthesisers”, giving the recording an other-worldly feel that set the tone for the rest of the record.
Sam frames the broader theme simply: “It’s an album about looking backwards and looking forwards… letting go of things that have been and building on the new now.” The closing track even brings the band’s children into the process – a small, sweet nod to important new chapters in life.
The latest incarnation brings back drummer Gratz Szewczyk and adds vocalist Rebecca Van Cleave, whose harmonies and songwriting instincts widen the canvas. “The whole thing has felt very collaborative,” says Sam.
And while DLH’s sound still nods westward – Fleetwood Mac have long been a touchstone – the roots are pure Sheffield. The band formed in the late 90s, released four albums, and came through a scene built on venues like the Boardwalk and promoters who gave local bands room to grow. That connection never went away, even when life did its thing. “We never had a ‘split’ moment,” says Sam. “Life just happened – people moved, had families, started other projects. But the love for it never left.”
No surprise, then, that the comeback show is at The Greystones – a spiritual home and the right size for songs that feel intimate yet pack a punch. The date doubles as release day for the nine-track album, recorded over 18 months at Bear Pit and released on Sweet Irene Records.
Sam’s own three-word stab at a tag? “Synth-soaked, ethereal and stadium-ready” – a neat summary of a record that embraces a new type of atmosphere without losing its guitar-driven heart. He picks ‘Burying the Ghosts’ as a personal high point, a song about “letting go of things that had been… with nothing but love.”
Don’t call it a one-off, however. The follow-up is already in motion. “Now we’ve found the sound and the way of working, there’s a canvas to move forward with,” says Sam. “We’re not chasing anything – just making music with people we love.”
Visions of a Dream is out Friday 14 November, with the launch party at The Greystones the same night. Tickets (£15) available here.
