Chvrches Are 'Happy To Go Out And Continue Being Grumpy About Everything!'

Chvrches

The Scottish synth-pop group Chvrches have experienced a spectacular ascendance since 2013's debut, The Bones Of What You Believe. But frontwoman Lauren Mayberry does have one regret. Early on, she fretted excessively.

"I would like to go back to before the first record, and during the first record, and just be able to be present and enjoy it more and not be so concerned about everything," the animated Mayberry shares. "I'd like to go back and tell myself, 'It's all gonna be fine.' A lot of the monsters you see in the trees are real, but a lot of them aren't as well."

A multi-instrumentalist (and freelance journalist), Mayberry formed Chvrches with Iain Cook and Martin Doherty in Glasgow. Here, the resolutely autonomous trio developed their allegorical emo electro-rock in a home studio and impressed bloggers. They'd become a chart band with The Bones Of What You Believe. Following 2015's consolidating Every Open Eye, Chvrches have now discharged a bold third album, Love Is Dead - their take on progressive stadium pop. And they're returning to Australia for Splendour In The Grass with a new live drummer.

Love Is Dead originated in New York, where all three Chvrches members independently decided to resettle. "It just kind of happened, really," Mayberry explains. "I came here at the end of 2015, because we were touring in the States so much and it seemed like it would be a fun thing to try and a sensible base to have. We'd always talked about going back to Glasgow for the record, but then it just felt like a change of scenery would be good psychologically for us to push ourselves, or challenge ourselves, outside of our regular comfort zone."

Chvrches also figured that, for album three, they'd team up with external producers. "It was never a given that we were gonna work with people. We took a month and were like, 'Let's just go around and meet a bunch of different people and see if we meet anybody that we feel like we really clicked with, and somebody that would push us in the right way.' We had some great meetings and we had some fucking terrible meetings!" Indeed, the odd industry-type attempted to commercialise the band. "I think it's just a culture that we're not a part of - this culture of one-size-fits-all songs," Mayberry sighs. "We did some sessions where I'm like, 'This song is fine, but it doesn't sound like Chvrches. It sounds like "insert-a-name-here/generic thing on pop radio','' which I probably would listen to and enjoy, but I don't wanna make that; I don't want it to be our music." Besides, Chvrches sought to fully interact with outsiders, rather than be instructed (or indulged).

Initially, the band collaborated with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart. Alas, those songs were shelved. "They were too far removed from where we'd ended up." However, Mayberry commends Stewart's mentorship, describing him glowingly as "a unicorn". Ultimately, Chvrches recorded primarily with the versatile Californian super-producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Foo Fighters, Liam Gallagher). Mayberry holds that Kurstin "understands British music", singling out his work with Lily Allen.

Sonically, Love Is Dead is punchy like modernised '90s alt-rock. Mayberry duets with The National's Matt Berninger on the atmospheric art-rock My Enemy. And, lyrically, it's Chvrches' most immediate album with Mayberry writing more about social issues than romance or her interior life. The haunting Graves chronicles the plight of refugees. Mayberry is particularly pleased with Deliverance, which is a takedown of organised religion. The vocalist has identified the album's overarching theme as "the death of empathy", hence the dramatic title. Yet, somehow, Love Is Dead feels empowering. Still, while the lead single Get Out could be a post-EDM The Cranberries, Love Is Dead doesn't necessarily signal a radical departure.

"As much as we wanted to make sure that we were evolving over the course of the records, we still wanted it to feel like the same band," Mayberry stresses. "People have been saying to us a lot in interviews that this record is a lot more poppy, but then I do wonder if people would be making such a big deal of that if there weren't outside producers involved? I mean, I listen to something like [2013's] The Mother We Share and I'm like, 'That's poppy as all hell!' But, for us, it was always important to have the balance between the more direct, melodic stuff and the darkness and the weirdness. We never want it to go too far in one direction or too far in the other; it's always about that juxtaposition. If the melodies are more upfront and in-your-face, then you should push things further with the sounds and with the lyrics and the imagery... I kinda like putting that into a pop context, because it's just a little bit of salt on the wound or a twist on it."

Mayberry lambasted Stereogum's review of Love Is Dead as "bullshit" - the writer snarkily alluding to its supposed "fight songs for #TheResistance". In fact, Chvrches have long engaged in social activism. Back in 2013, Mayberry wrote an influential op-ed for The Guardian about her encounters with online misogyny. Invariably, the media is now probing her about the #MeToo movement. Many big artists are reticent to discuss political matters lest they alienate fans (Mayberry has previously noted Taylor Swift's selective feminism). After all, even Eminem faced a massive backlash with his Trump-critiquing Revival. But, for Mayberry, there is no other "option" than to use her platform. "The kind of 'turn a blind eye and pretend it doesn't exist' thing doesn't feel right to me," she says. "The reason that you're able to not talk about certain things is because you've been afforded the privilege not to. Those things maybe don't affect you, but that's because you've reached a level of luxury and privilege where it's not directly impacting you. But that doesn't mean that it's not real." Mayberry won't be deterred. She laughs, "I'm happy to go out and continue being grumpy about everything!"