The Bones of What You Believe

Released in September 2013 by Virgin and Goodbye in Britain, with Glassnote handling the United States, the album was written and produced by the band and recorded in Glasgow between 2011 and 2013. Rich Costey mixed ten of the twelve songs at Eldorado Recording Studios in Burbank, California. The band mixed Tether and By the Throat themselves at Wall 2 Wall Recording in Chicago, and Bob Ludwig mastered the record at Gateway in Portland, Maine. Mayberry said the title comes from a lyric in Strong Hand and refers to the raw creativity and effort that formed the skeleton of the album. Doherty said it was made with the listening experience in mind and sequenced for vinyl. Seven of its songs became singles: The Mother We Share, Recover, Gun, Lies, We Sink, Under the Tide and Tether. A 12-track standard edition and an 18-track special version appeared, and a 10th anniversary edition followed in October 2023 with four unreleased songs and five live tracks.

It entered the British chart at number 9, selling 12,415 copies in its first week, and reached number 12 on the US Billboard 200. Metacritic averaged 80 from 39 reviews. Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork said Mayberry soars above the chorus on Lies, named Science/Visions the closest thing to a miss, and said Doherty did well enough on his two lead songs, Under the Tide and You Caught the Light. Harriet Gibsone of the Guardian called the opening run of The Mother We Share, We Sink and Gun "an almightily bombastic introduction". The Observer's Ally Carnwath found them more robust and melodic than peers such as Grimes and Purity Ring. Pitchfork later ranked the album number 180 among the best albums of the 2010s.