Since the discharge of their 2013 debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, CHVRCHES have change into specialists at pushing the boundaries of their shiny pop-meets-synth-pop sound. Their newest album, Screen Violence, which traversed the depths of gloomier goth-pop, was launched in the course of the pandemic and located the Scottish trio tackling considerably of an idea album that addressed not solely violence on screens however how their lives had change into consumed by them in isolation. While nonetheless separated by continents, the band have toured because it debuted and determined to return to their roots — a minimum of for a one-off observe. With their newest single “Over,” the band are seemingly starting a new chapter.
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Ahead of its launch, AP chatted with the trio in regards to the lengthy course of of constructing “Over,” Mayberry’s expertise with sexism, and wanting to work with Taylor Swift.
Tell me about how “Over” got here collectively.
LAUREN MAYBERRY: In my thoughts, I really feel just like the final report simply got here out. But in actuality, that is not the case. Screen Violence got here out in 2021, so we have been touring it fairly constantly since then. Normally we’ll save up songs over months and years till we have now sufficient for an entire album. But we had the track that we had completed, and it was prepared to go. We’ve by no means actually performed a standalone launch. It’s all the time been as a part of a much bigger marketing campaign. So we figured, why not? We actually freed ourselves of our indie-rock shackles, and we’re in a position to deploy music as and when [we please].
“Over” is a little bit of a return to your roots.
MARTIN DOHERTY: There’s instances the place we have been considering in a leaner method, the best way that this track is. We have been simply with [producer] Oscar Holter, so there was a collaborator coming into the method and having their perspective on what they suppose your band is all about. Sonically, it is usually fascinating for sparking up new concepts. It seems like an older CHVRCHES track. It seems like loads of years of our band which might be being introduced collectively and are providing a method ahead. I hear the Prince-y factor in there, [and] I hear the guitars which have change into a staple, however then I additionally hear the “No Fear” synthesizer refrain that we have all the time been partial to. So in loads of methods, we seemed again to go ahead, which is fascinating to me.
Does “Over” sign the route you are transferring in on your subsequent report?
DOHERTY: One of the enjoyable issues in regards to the fashionable music enterprise is that this present paradigm in streaming is you not want to suppose in these phrases. It could be so simple as, “We love the songs, so we want to put it out.” Then we’ll address and assess later down the line. I definitely wouldn’t commit to being part of a longer-form project going forward, but honestly, I have no idea, and that’s liberating. Previously, and as was the case for all time, in order to put out a song, it would have to be part of some bigger conversation. Now you can just move as you will, and in a way, that makes you feel most satisfied.
What was the vision behind the music video for “Over”?
MAYBERRY: Our heads lived in the Screen Violence era for so long, and I really enjoyed that time period because it felt like we had so much time to plan it. But planning a whole album on all the imagery for all of that is a lot more involved than going into already knowing that it was just going to be one standalone song. It was fun to feel a little bit more free with it. We made the video on a day off on tour in Australia, so what the concept was, and where it was going to be filmed, was really determined by what was available where we were, which is not a way we’ve done a video before. Don’t be fooled by what it looks like; it was actually very cold and very rainy. I had to change my intended hairstyle very early on in the shooting because it was so wet and humid.I had a lot more going on up there than I had intended. It went full frizz, so we had to do a proper slicked-down, wet look, so that it would be consistent.
Lauren, for years you advocated for yourself and other women against online trolls and sexism in the music industry. Do you still have to weather a lot of the abuse that you did at the beginning of your career now?
MAYBERRY: For me, personally, nothing has changed substantially. I think the only thing that changed was the decision to not discuss it anymore. Because ultimately, it took to catch up so much oxygen in the narrative around the band, and personally, I’m never convinced that journalists actually take it seriously. Most of the discussion around it was incredibly salacious, uninformed and unempathetic. People just ask you a question to tick off a list, and they don’t actually care about it. To me, I don’t think anything has altered in how I approach it.
On the last record, at least, if people had questions about it, then you can see the evidence of that in the work rather than having to sit and talk about it anymore. I think that 2011-2012 was a very specific time to start a band, and it was a very specific time on the internet. I don’t think that anybody knew what this was going to be like. I don’t think anybody could have prepared me for it, and I certainly don’t think anybody was able to protect me from it. I spent a decade not talking about any of the art that I made — people just wanted to talk about things that are actually quite profoundly traumatic for a 23- or 24-year-old girl. I think that women in the world experience that anyway. I know a lot of female friends my age have gotten to a point where they feel quite drained at best from feeling consumed and perceived by male society. But my experience of that is even more specific. It’s not better. I just don’t talk about it anymore.
Which artists are you most intrigued by right now?
DOHERTY: I’m looking into the past a lot, but I think there’s a new generation of electronic artists coming through, which is exciting to me. I also love Audrey Nuna, the rapper. She’s amazing. I know that Lauren will echo us in my love for Bartees Strange. I won’t say he’s one man saving indie, but he’s really offering something new, something really exciting to me when I hear it.
Who do you dream of collaborating with at this point in your career?
MAYBERRY: In a post-Robert Smith collaboration universe, you’re like, “Well, how can we solely go up from right here?” It’s laborious to high that one. I feel the collaborations we have performed over the course of the band have various. They did come about fairly organically for probably the most half. So I feel we’ll simply wait and see.
IAIN COOK: Thinking realistically, the one method to high Robert Smith or equal it’s most likely Taylor Swift.
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