The Bones Of What You Believe, the highly-anticipated debut album from Glaswegian band Chvrches is a crisp, upbeat affair that grabs you straight away and doesn’t let go. I was first introduced to the band by my brother who forced me to listen to their popular single ‘Recover’ along with its mega-smooth Cid Rim Remix from their EP. After literally not being able to stop listening to this remix for about three weeks, I was keen to get my hands on some other tracks. But only now, with their debut album being released in Australia on September 20, was I able to hear what else had been brewing in their Scottish studio.
The album opens with one of the band’s singles, ‘The Mother We Share’, a track that I don’t think anyone could be disappointed with. It’s a snappy opener, upbeat and full of crisp clean beats with melancholy edge. ‘We Sink’ and ‘Gun’ keep the magic happening with some fun sounds that you can’t help but get into. ‘Tether’ brings a slower, calmer groove just when you’re starting to hanker for something a little different, before heading into the band’s dancey debut single ‘Lies’.
Lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry is clearly one of the band’s strengths, with a voice that is both piercing and fragile. Mayberry’s voice blends perfectly into the band’s sound while still retaining all of its clarity, and while at times her voice is almost too girlishly pure, the lyrics that she is delivering cut through this, giving her some edge.
This album is extremely well-balanced. The dancier tracks had me doing a lot of arms-dancing at my computer because I just couldn’t help but get into it, while the echoey space of tracks like ‘By The Throat’ and ‘Science/Visions’ made me want to close my eyes and relax into the sound to soak it all in, like listening to Tool’s ‘10,000 Days (Wings Pt. 2)’ or Arvo Part’s ‘Fratres’. The album finishes on a strange note with ‘You Caught The Light’, one of only two tracks on the album with a lead male vocalist. While this song threw me for a moment with its slight change of tone, it works nicely as a coda, relaxing you out of the album with some chilled out sounds that could rival The Radio Dept. for satisfying nap-inducement.
If you’ve been waiting for this album on the strength of the band’s singles then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. The band never completely relax into one sound, changing it up pretty regularly throughout the album and keeping you on your toes. It’s a fantastic debut for the band, and I only hope there are more remixes to come, because that Cid Rim Remix is still right at the top of my list for the year.
9/10
Reviewer: Louisa Bulley