This Glaswegian three-piece had the music industry banging on their door six months ago when label Neon Gold premiered debut track ‘Lies’ online. It’s a booming slice of electro-pop, juxtaposing abrasive synths with delicate vocals from Lauren Mayberry, who sounds as though she’s the last vestige of hope battling for space in a maelstrom of venomous beats. The track spoke volumes as Chvrches remained silent, preferring to keep people intrigued. Without images or interviews building up online, what did appear was unanimous praise.
“There was something cool about not growing up in public,” explains synth man Martin Doherty of their enigmatic emergence. “We started recording stuff in October last year, so we had a reasonable bulk of material before ‘Lies’ went up. We were testing the water to see how people reacted and we’ve been very lucky that it went quite well,” adds Lauren modestly.
Things began when Martin, formerly of post-rockers The Twilight Sad, teamed up with University friend Iain Cook to make something more danceable: “There’s only so much beard-stroking that you can take,” Martin laughs. “I wanted to do something different, where people could come to a show and have a really good time.”
Lauren provided a creative catalyst upon joining. “Lauren’s got a sweet, pure voice, so it allows us to press the production as much as possible and make a more disgusting drum beat, and push things harder in the opposite direction. Effectively it’s pop music, but with a darker edge,” says Martin.
This dark side is something they’ve been exploring in the studio and the resulting album is due next year. “We’ve got a tune called ‘Science/Vision’ that’s going to be a really interesting moment on the record. It’s as dark but also as dance as we get too, a kind of Kate Bush meets Giorgio Moroder thing we feel pretty strongly about,” Martin confides.
Words: Simon Butcher
Photography: Neil Bedford
Fashion: Chris Amfo
WHERE: GLASGOW
WHAT: SINISTER ELECTRO POP
GET 3 SONGS: ‘LIES’, ‘THE MOTHER WE SHARE’, ‘WE SINK IN’
UNIQUE FACT: ALL THREE MEMBERS WERE IN PREVIOUS BANDS – LAUREN: BLUE SKY ARCHIVES, MARTIN: THE TWILIGHT SAD, AND IAN: AEREOGRAMME.
