Album Review: CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe

An album worthy of all the hype, The Bones Of What You Believe undeniably solidifies what we've kinda already known – Chvrches are goddamn brilliant.

The tracks that started the media maelstrom for the Glasgow trio – The Mother We Share, Gun, Recover – are all accounted for, so the album feels familiar. But no matter how many times you listen, the music still sounds fresh. Purity Ring is a pretty obvious point of relation from the last few years, and The Knife have their weird little fingerprints all over this album, too. The arching futuretronica created by Iain Cook and Martin Doherty is jittering and awkward, but fun and uplifting. They've found emotion in machines – an inspired feat. And thanks to the pure vocals of diminutive frontwoman Lauren Mayberry, beautiful imagery is generated and the textures she provides make songs like Night Sky rise to glorious heights.

When the record arrives at Science/Visions, however, you almost forget about the moments of saccharine joy that you've just been given by the band, because for four enthralling minutes shit gets dark. It's the album's most abrasive moment, and arguably its best, with the crawling, scratchy synths and loops cutting into you with Fuck Buttons-esque disregard. It stands as the pinnacle of the listening experience, allowing the record to then trail off naturally to the complete comedown of You Caught The Light. And following those concluding notes, it's clear you've listened to something pretty special.