Tuesday 24 September 2013

Chvrches: The Bones of What You Believe Review

Chvrches (Pronounced churches, but spelt with a "v" so it's easier to search for) is a Glaswegian band heavily inspired by 80's music - while putting their own unique spin on it, thus bringing old music into the modern era. Their first album "The Bones of What You Believe" debuted late September




This album is full of potential for future releases, it has a wide range of interesting music. However the most common problem with a lot of electropop is that the band/group either:-

1) Produce one -or a few- good song(s) and the rest stray into "experimental" music which usually flops
2) They come out with one or two albums then vanish completely

With Chvrches however it feels totally different and they may not fall into this pattern. 

This album is full of brilliant songs, way more that just one or two. All with a similar style (that of which is their own style). So they've managed to make way more than one good song, so it's safe to say they probably won't be experimenting any time soon as they seem to have found a firm footing for their style pretty fast. So unless something shifts them really suddenly they ain't gonna change their ways. 

As for the second problem, that is unlikely. They have been around for a while now, but they weren't able to release their album. Why? They wanted a contract that allowed a lot of creative freedom. If they take creativity that seriously that they waited for a while to get a contract,  that most likely means they are serious. So this isn't looking to be a case of here one minute and gone the next, they seem to want to stick around and make a proper carrer out of this.

We can only hope for what the future brings.

Relying heavily on synthesizers and a solid consistent bass, Chvrches have already found a reliable niche, and here's hoping that they stick to it. Short singing segments, with small breaks in between, gives the audience the chance to listen to the music they've produced as well and not just the vocal talent -as beautiful as they are-. 

Their music is constructed almost like a weave. It's not a case of clear musical verse piece, chorus piece, verse piece, chorus piece, bridge. Sure you can tell when it's a verse, chorus or bridge due to the singing, but for some of their songs the music blends and the end of one musical segment and the start of another is usually impossible to find exactly where the music transforms into the next section. This makes some of the songs seem like a continuous string. Something that is unique to them and is a style of theirs.

There are two main ways to can see this album. It can come across as a album where each track is heavily layered with music scores, all interweaving tightly with one another. Or. Very short epics, full of life and activity. Sure there are other ways to view it. But these two are most likely the ones to strike at you first before anything else. It is what is most striking about Chvrches style.

With a variety of songs that seem totally different from one another, but it has that something that makes them all associated with one another at the same time. The Bones of What You Believe is an amazing debut album that opens many doors for Chvrches so let's hope that they aren't gone too long until their next release.

Here's hoping them all the best.

8.5/10

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