CHVRCHES

A Glasgow trio of two producers and a singer who went from an anonymous online song in 2012 to four albums of big-hearted synth-pop, starting with The Bones of What You Believe.

Origin: Glasgow, Scotland
Years active: 2011-present
Genres: synth-pop, indietronica, indie pop
Labels: Goodbye Records, Virgin, Glassnote, EMI, Island, Futures Music Group
Also known as: Chvrches

Glasgow

Iain Cook and Martin Doherty met as students at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Cook had played in the post-rock band Aereogramme and Doherty was a touring member of the Twilight Sad, and the two shared an interest in starting a project of their own. In September 2011 Cook, who had just produced an EP for the band Blue Sky Archives, asked its singer and drummer Lauren Mayberry to sing backing vocals on the electronic music he and Doherty were making. They wrote in a basement studio, with Mayberry on lyrics and hooks, Doherty on melodic ideas and Cook producing. Mayberry soon became lead singer. They spelled the name with a v in place of the u so that it would stand apart from actual churches in online searches.

Their first song, Lies, went online through the Neon Gold Records blog in May 2012 and reached number one on The Hype Machine. Doherty said the band had been a studio project until then, and the response made them learn to play live. After two shows under the name Shark Week, they made their official debut at the Glasgow School of Art in July 2012. When labels wanted Mayberry as the face of the band, the trio refused and insisted on equal treatment for all three. The Mother We Share came out later in 2012, Daniel Glass of Glassnote signed them in January 2013, and the BBC placed them fifth on its Sound of 2013 list.

The Bones of What You Believe

Recover arrived on an EP in March 2013, followed by Gun. The debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, came out in September 2013 on Virgin and Goodbye in Britain. The band produced it themselves in Glasgow, and Rich Costey mixed most of it in California. Doherty said they had sequenced it for vinyl, with a Side A and a Side B, and the band looked for labels happy to take a finished record. Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork called it "a seamless fusion of emotive theatrics" and hook-loaded songwriting. It entered the British chart at number 9 and reached number 12 in the United States.

In 2013 they played Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, supported Depeche Mode on four dates in July, and performed on Later... with Jools Holland in September. The Mother We Share was re-released and reached number 38 on the British singles chart.

Bigger rooms

Every Open Eye followed on 25 September 2015. Work began in January in the same Glasgow studio, now with more synthesizers, and the band turned down offers of outside co-writers. They recorded 21 tracks in about five months. Leave a Trace was the first single and Clearest Blue the third, which the band later took apart on the podcast Song Exploder. The album entered at number 4 in Britain and number 8 in the United States, and in March 2016 the band made its Royal Albert Hall debut.

For Love Is Dead (2018) they worked with an outside producer for the first time, Greg Kurstin, and recorded in Los Angeles, New York and London. Matt Berninger of the National sang on My Enemy. Jonny Scott joined as a live drummer, and the tour ran to more than 150 events in over 20 countries before ending in December 2019.

Screen Violence and after

Work on Screen Violence began in February 2020, and the band carried on remotely once the pandemic began. The title came from a discarded band name, and its songs draw on horror films. Robert Smith of the Cure sang on How Not to Drown, which won Best Song by a UK Artist at the NME Awards in 2022. The album reached number 4 in Britain. In 2022 the band signed to Island and EMI.

In 2023 they went on hiatus while Mayberry released solo music, including the album Vicious Creature in December 2024. They marked ten years of the first two albums with anniversary editions in 2023 and 2025, and in 2025 confirmed they had begun a fifth album. Its first single, Roses, was released on 22 September 2026.

Members

Lauren Mayberry lead and backing vocals, drums, percussion, additional synthesizers (2011-present)
Iain Cook synthesizers, piano, guitars, bass, backing vocals (2011-present)
Martin Doherty synthesizers, samplers, piano, guitars, bass, backing and lead vocals (2011-present)
Jonny Scott touring drums, percussion (2018-present)

Records

The Bones of What You Believe 2013 · Virgin, Goodbye Records and Glassnote
The debut: twelve songs written, produced and recorded by the band in Glasgow, mixed by Rich Costey, and sequenced for vinyl.
Every Open Eye 2015 · Virgin EMI Records and Goodbye Records
The second album: five months in the same Glasgow studio with more synthesizers, ending on a one-take Afterglow.
Love Is Dead 2018 · Virgin EMI Records and Goodbye Records
The third album, made with outside producers for the first time and with Matt Berninger of the National on My Enemy.
Screen Violence 2021 · EMI Records and Glassnote Records
The fourth album: horror films as a lens, made largely at a distance, with Robert Smith of the Cure on How Not to Drown.

Songs

The Mother We Share The Bones of What You Believe · 2012
The debut single, first out in 2012 and re-released in 2013 to reach number 38 in Britain.
Lies The Bones of What You Believe · 2012
The first song they put online, in May 2012, and the one that made a studio project learn to play live.
Recover The Bones of What You Believe · 2013
The second single, first on the Recover EP and the song that helped win the band a US record deal.
Gun The Bones of What You Believe · 2013
A tuneful kiss-off that Pitchfork named a Best New Track before the album was out.
Leave a Trace Every Open Eye · 2015
The lead single from Every Open Eye, with a vocal built on cool indifference.
Clearest Blue Every Open Eye · 2015
The song that came to define how Every Open Eye sounds, planned as two chords and a laid-back mood.

Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Twilight Sad, Aereogramme

Where to go next

Official

CHVRCHES The band's own site, with music, video and live dates.

Reference

Chvrches The band's history from formation to the fifth album.
The Bones of What You Believe Background, singles, charts and critics' quotes for the debut.
Every Open Eye A detailed account of the second album's recording and equipment.
Love Is Dead Background, producers, singles and the tour.
Screen Violence The pandemic recording and the horror themes.

Writing and criticism

Pitchfork review of The Bones of What You Believe Larry Fitzmaurice on the debut, song by song.
The roots of Chvrches Ian Cohen on Aereogramme, the Twilight Sad and the Glasgow scene behind them.
The Guardian on Every Open Eye Rebecca Nicholson's review of the second album.
The Guardian on Love Is Dead Alexis Petridis weighs the pop turn of the third album.
The Guardian on Screen Violence Kitty Empire on the horror-film fourth album.
Pitchfork on Recover The Best New Track review that helped introduce the band.

Interviews

Pitchfork interview, 2013 The band on being a studio project, Depeche Mode and making the first album.
The Guardian, One to watch, 2012 An early profile written before the first album.
The Guardian interview, 2015 The trio on equal billing, as Every Open Eye came out.
Song Exploder, Clearest Blue The band takes the song apart, with the original demo.

Sources

Chvrches, Wikipedia
The Bones of What You Believe, Wikipedia
Chvrches: The Bones of What You Believe, Pitchfork (2013-09-25)
Chvrches interview, Pitchfork (2013-09-30)
The roots of Chvrches, Pitchfork (2013-09-25)
One to watch: Chvrches, The Guardian (2012-10-28)
Chvrches: we could have sold 200,000 more records, The Guardian (2015-08-20)