Less Frills, No 'Sugar' & Putting Guitars On A CHVRCHES Track - The Road To 'Screen Violence'

Forming back in 2011, Glasgow trio CHVRCHES have become synonymous with sharp pop, dazzling electro and razor-sharp synths since their 2013 debut studio album The Bones Of What You Believe first spun to life.

But while a rejected band name helped spark the latest CHVRCHES endeavour, with the group's fourth full-length Screen Violence releasing last week, the looming COVID-19 pandemic in fact heightened the darker nature of the end result, as vocalist Lauren Mayberry told host Tiana Speter on the latest episode of The Green Room podcast. 

"For me it was a really important moment in the lyric writing of the band," Mayberry told Speter.

"Not that these songs are, like, narratives, 'cos they're all definitely still personal. But there's a lot more imagery, and a lot more specific imagery than there has been on other records. And I don't know if I would've...tried that as thoroughly as we did had we not had everything about the band disappear."

While the trademark CHVRCHES sonic spirit shines brightly on Screen Violence amongst intermittent themes of loneliness, frustration and angst, the album itself deviates sharply from the group's most recent release, the 2018 upbeat affair that was Love Is Dead. But with LP number four recorded and released against a backdrop of lockdown and isolation, CHVRCHES were unexpectedly returned to their roots of their own sound alongside an eye-opening exploration into who they are as a band. 

"We kept saying how it was the most similar writing process to the first CHVRCHES album because, for better or worse, we were in a vacuum," Mayberry said. "Like: what is a band when nobody ever sees you or hears you? And you don't go and play shows, and you don't do promo? You're just in your house all the time.

"What is a band? A band is writing. 

"I'm sure that everybody can relate to this, but I don't know, I think last year really helped solidify for me that...we've wasted so much time in our lives, and I've wasted so much time in my life caring about things I shouldn't have cared about, or trying for things I shouldn't have been trying for.

"So I think when it came to making music, we were like: 'What is the point of this if it isn't something that you are really proud of, and you really, really, really love it?'. 

"I think in other times I would've been like: 'Oooo, don't try that, that's risky!! Don't do that! Don't put guitars on a CHVRCHES album!'. But I think that last year we were just like: 'What's the point in doing anything if we won't do it in a way that feels authentic and honest?"

"I just think 'cos the third CHVRCHES record...it wasn't necessarily more 'pop' in some ways," Mayberry mused. "We were definitely trying to go for something that was much more direct and shinier in a lot of ways.

"So, I think when it came...we knew that we'd done that, and we enjoyed doing that, and that was a time that we got a lot out of, and I love that record. But by the time we'd finished touring it, we were definitely like: 'OK! That's enough sugar for now. Let's try something else'.

"And I think that was a blessing in disguise in a way, because if we'd been trying to make a super up, super happy, super shiny record during a lockdown...I don't think that would've worked.

Mayberry paused and laughed.

"Luckily we'd already planned to make a record that was relatively dark. And it just got darker as time went on."

Be sure to catch the full episode of The Green Room with Lauren Mayberry and Tiana Speter diving deeper into the CHVRCHES world, including '90s inspirations, nostalgic backstage smells and how the band nabbed their dream collaboration with The Cure's Robert Smith.

You can watch the full episode below or here, or alternatively, you can also listen to full The Green Room podcast episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts - or wherever you usually get your podcasts from.

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Need more music, film, TV and comedy in your life? Check out all previous episodes of The Green Room here - and did you know you can also watch episodes of The Green Room too? Head here to check out some of the recent videos, and if you're still hunting for content to feed your ears, be sure to check out some of the other exciting Handshake Agency podcasts below!

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