Dear Reader

Dear Reader

Dear Reader is a South African alternative pop band from Johannesburg. It begins in 2006 as Harris Tweed, formed by singer-songwriter-pianist Cherilyn MacNeil and producer-bassist Darryl Torr. After the pair stop using the Harris Tweed name in 2008, the project continues as Dear Reader.

Formation and early releases

As Harris Tweed, MacNeil and Torr release their first album, The Younger, on South African label Just Music. Under the Dear Reader name, they record Replace Why with Funny in 2008 with producer Brent Knopf of Menomena and Ramona Falls. The album is then released in Europe through City Slang, following a licensing deal with the Berlin-based label, and in South Africa through Just Music.

Line-up changes and Berlin period

MacNeil and Torr part ways in 2010, after which Dear Reader becomes MacNeil’s solo project. She relocates to Berlin and writes the material for Idealistic Animals there. The album is recorded in Leipzig and Portland with Brent Knopf and other musicians and friends. MacNeil later produces the follow-up herself, recording and editing most of it in her one-room apartment in Berlin.

Albums and recognition

Replace Why with Funny wins Best English Adult Contemporary Album at the South African Music Awards in 2010. Idealistic Animals is released in Germany and South Africa, then in Europe and the UK, and is nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 2012 South African Music Awards. The fourth studio album, Rivonia, consists of songs based on stories from South African history and is released in Europe and South Africa in 2013.

Live work

In 2013, Dear Reader performs a live radio concert with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra. That recording is later released as We Followed Every Sound.