Dead Can Dance.

Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard formed Dead Can Dance in Melbourne in August 1981, joining Perry's background in the band Marching Girls with Gerrard's in the post-punk group Microfilm. After relocating to London in 1982, they signed to 4AD in 1983, touring alongside labelmates Cocteau Twins.

Gerrard developed her own invented, non-lexical vocal language beginning around age 12, using it extensively across the group's catalog from Spleen and Ideal (1985) onward — a defining feature of a sound widely credited with founding the neoclassical darkwave genre. Into the Labyrinth (1993) became 4AD's best-selling release to that point, selling roughly 500,000 copies.

The group disbanded in 1998, with Gerrard returning to Australia and Perry relocating to Ireland, before reuniting in 2005 for a 31-date world tour with a 40-piece orchestra, and again in 2011 for the album Anastasis (2012) and later Dionysus (2018).

In July 2026, Lisa Gerrard confirmed she is no longer part of Dead Can Dance; Brendan Perry has continued releasing new material under the name.