'I think without that, it's really easy for a relationship to go off the rails. Just finding that sort of way to communicate to each other. 'I remember when we had our first kid, Neptune, we didn't know what the hell we were doing, but something we figured out really early on was just kind of having a moment where we knew each other's moves for the day, so we could co-parent this creature. 'A lot of the album is about that: how I could contribute to this better,' he explains. He uses dramatic pop structures flush with strings on tracks such as 'To The Top,' a declaration of commitment to doing the best for his family. Themes of honesty, redemption and fundamental communication define the earnestly titled Hear Me Out (his second solo outing since 2013's Mass:Light), built atop songs that remain just as powerful played on acoustic guitar as with the dynamic arrangements that Lightburn utilized in their recording. This album, there's not a lot of - it's not approached that way. But it's very super, you know, Bob Newhart-dry - very straight-faced and no laugh track. A lot of times people don't know when I'm cracking a joke, and I crack a lot of them. 'In the Dears, I write in a pretty abstract way, but it's always taken literally. There a lot of people around,' he laughs. Especially when, you know, I was having more successful times. I mean, I'm almost 50 years old, for god's sake I've had a lot of people come and go in my life. Not romantic ones, just in general: business, friendships. 'There's a handful of people who I give a damn what they think, literally less than five people, you know? And I guess in a way this album is an ode to those people - I've had a lot of relationships that didn't make it.

While he's quick to point out that the record's not wholly autobiographical and has a relatability to it that transcends personal experience, the collection of tracks focuses on what matters most to him: the dearest relationships in his life. 'To be honest with you, I've gotten to that point where I don't give a shit a lot about what somebody thinks,' says Murray Lightburn of the Dears, speaking with Exclaim! from his Montreal home weeks ahead of the release of his new album Hear Me Out, out February 22.

Murray lightburn hear me out