PREVIEW: CHVRCHES at the House of Blues, Boston on 12/1
CHVRCHES are amongst that legendary cohort of young UK bands who had an oversized role in reshaping indie music in the 2010s. You might know them from their iconic debut album The Bones of What You Believe, whose tracklist notably contains – amongst a smorgasbord of similarly excellent tracks – the absolutely anthemic “The Mother We Share.”
If you were coming of age in the early 2010s, then you know first-hand just how important CHVRCHES were. In fact, they were arguably the band that revitalized synthpop and bought it to the forefront of indie rock and pop for the years to come. The sharp, complex, and forward-thinking nature of their production paired perfectly with frontwoman Lauren Mayberry’s vocal versatility and theatrical lyrics, combining the best parts of indie and electronic music. They made indie danceable – and yet, they remain criminally underrated, uncredited for their role in defining the sound of pop music today.
The Scottish trio of Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty, and Iain Cook have steadily released music in the years since their debut record, growing their sonic ambitions, reputation, and performance chops in the process. 2015’s Every Open Eye continued their synthpop streak, and 2018’s Love is Dead saw them bring in outside producers to help them achieve a stadium-sized sound. Their most recent release, this year’s Screen Violence, is the band at their best. Inspired by the ways that screens act as a medium for violence – on screens, by screens, and through screens – the album is punchier, darker, and more pointed than their previous work. It exemplifies how the band’s sound has matured and come into its own since they first formed a decade ago. There’s even a Robert Smith feature in there, because why not?
Make sure to catch CHVRCHES when they play the House of Blues on December 1st in support of Screen Violence!