Dead Can Dance are a British-Australian neoclassical darkwave band founded in Melbourne in 1981 by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard before the pair relocated to London the following year. They signed with independent label 4AD and were initially associated with the United Kingdom's gothic scene before developing a style that incorporated European medieval and Renaissance music traditions alongside ambient pop, darkwave, and world music elements. Beginning with their 1985 album Spleen and Ideal, the band helped to pioneer the neoclassical darkwave subgenre.