There is a moment on Sides, the new album from Richmond, Virginia-based duo LeanYear, in which a hospital room floor is filled with white chrysanthemums. This imagery,based on an opiate-induced hallucination experienced by vocalist Emilie Rex's motheras she recovered from surgery, is a perfect encapsulation of the band's second album:dreamlike and beautiful, yet burdened with cold, stark reality. Sides is a harrowingjourney through realms of grief and memory, a meditation woven into a tapestry of synthpads, woodwinds, and Rex's instantly recognizable voice. The duo of Rex and Rick Alverson-who also works as a film director (The Mountain,Entertainment, The Comedy)-originally set out to write an album about conflict, butduring the writing and recording process, they were confronted with a number ofpersonal tragedies. Alverson lost both of his parents in rapid succession, Rex's motherreceived a cancer diagnosis, and the couple's beloved family dog, Orca, died. Theseevents transformed the album into an exploration of loss-an attempt at processing thepainful, complex, and private emotions that bubble to the surface when confronted withdeath. "We thought we'd do a concept album called Sides where we could reflect on allof the division in the world, and some in our own families, but then COVID transformedeverything/everyone, and we suffered our own specific losses. The record becameabout loss and grief," Rex explains. "In this way, the title Sides was still appropriate: ourindividua ATTENTION: please remember that all Blu-Rays are Region A USA and all DVDs Region 1 USA and you will need a multi region Blu-Ray/DVD player to play them.