CHVRCHES are Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and vocalist Lauren Mayberry - who have appeared as members of the likes of Aerogramme, The Twilight Sad, and Blue Sky Archives. This female-fronted electro pop act hail from Glasgow and make music not too dissimilar in sound to The Knife, and more recently, MS MR, Charli XCX and Polica, to name but a few.
There’s no doubt that a wealth of female-fronted electronic acts have emerged from blogs in the past 12 months as potential ‘next big things’, and looking at the aforementioned list, maybe that’s causing a bit of a problem. I don’t have any issue with the sound any of them have crafted, but I get the impression one of them needs to do something a little different to really cut through in what could easily become an overcrowded scene.
CHVRCHES appeared earlier in the year (as Churches) with 'Lies', a solid, synth-driven track that firmly put them in the electro pop world, but it was Mayberry’s vocal that really caught my attention. Something about it sounded a little more rough and ready than some of the comparable acts I’d been listening to. That is definitely a good thing and a reason I want to check them out live as her vocal sounds like it has a little more attitude than most.
Last month they put up debut single 'The Mother We Share' which features an incredibly infectious melody that will stick in your head for days, as well as fairly solid production with haunting vocal snippets chopping in and out. It is a strong start from this Glaswegian group and they are certainly worthy of the hype, but I look forward to seeing how this translates into a debut album and how their sound develops over the coming months.
'The Mother We Share' is out today on 10” vinyl through National Anthem. See them live in the UK throughout November supporting Passion Pit. Find more info at facebook.com/chvrches.
We're a collaborative British music, film and TV blog. "Trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop."
