The Bones of What You Believe

didn’t listen to this one under a microscope, but even at a casual level it’s clear how well executed it is. The songwriting is tight, the production is polished without feeling empty, and the emotional tone feels thoughtful rather than manufactured. There’s a real sense of intention behind it.

It’s not necessarily my musical lane—I tend to gravitate toward more organic, groove-driven records—but I respect what this album does. The synth textures and hooks are strong, and it manages to be both immediate and controlled without feeling disposable.

Not something I’ll live inside, but undeniably well crafted. A strong four for execution and intent.

I liked this one. It feels like disposable vaporware-adjacent 2010s pop music more than an enduring classic, but I'm going to embrace it anyway. It's certainly of its time, but not quite as 'of its time' as a few of the other records from this time on list (The XX, so much landfill indie, etc) I was interested to see that I already had "Recover" saved to my Spotify "Liked Songs" and I still believe that's the standout track on this record. "The Mother We Share" was the big hit and should be familiar to anyone who lived through this era, but it's not the better song.

The most interesting thing about this album to me is that the only real instrument is drums. Often electronic drums but still, like a real dude playing them rather than programming them into a computer. Everything else is digital. It grounds it a little I suppose. While this isn't really a kind of music I would listen to all the time, I did enjoy this album for what it was. I really liked the vocals a lot, great voice and it fit in very well with the music. Minimal auto-tune which is always a good thing, and seemingly mostly used for effect rather than obvious correction.
A hard one to rate for me. I liked it, probably wouldn't listen to it again but wouldn't be upset about throwing it on now and then. Would I buy it if I saw it in a record store? Yeah maybe if I was in the mood that day. But this is another example of why we need scores out of 10 or the ability to give half stars. This one would be like a 3.6 (7.5/10 maybe) but I just can't see rounding it up to a 4. So 3/5 it is.

I knew the track "We Swim" quite well due to it being on one of the FIFA games back in the day (13 or 14, can't remember which). The rest of this album was new to me, though it felt like something I'd already heard hundreds of times before as it gives off TV advert vibes.

A vaguely catchy in patches, but chiefly uninteresting retro-futurist synth pop album, it's sorely lacking in humanity - the whole thing just sounds so manufactured, whilst the lyrics largely comprise that "I'm not like the other girls!!" slop which I've no time for.

zzz zika za pozadinu u slastičarnici... zakaj je ovo na popisu?

A modern album for a change. Only 12 years old so a mere baby.
Loved the immersive sound and the vocal. An 80s inspired sound in the noughties.
4½

I’m surprised this is on the list, but I don’t mind it. Great synth pop, interesting vocal chops, clear leads. Not a genre I typically listen to, but I enjoyed it. I had fun imagining the synth programming. The first track was my favorite.

ou, o emotion da carly rae jepsen realmente influenciou uma geração de artistas pop né. e o desgraçado do autor nem colocou na lista pqp mto burro

dito isso, nn esperava chvrches por aqui. eh bacana, mas um pouco cansativo!! não eh mto natalino também

I expected this to be more dated, but it actually holds up pretty well. I didn't really get into them at the time, as I thought they had blatantly ripped off Purity Ring's sound (who you should definitely check out if you like this). I still feel a hit like that, but there are a few really good songs on here so I can forgive them.

Synth pop raises an element or trepedatiousness in me however it rated reasonably well on the toe-tapping scale. I would quite possibly listen to a couple of these again but potentially not all in on go.

It’s probably about 2.5 stars but as it’s the season of goodwill, and I haven’t been to chvrch for a while, I’m going to round it up.

Favorite track(s): no standouts, perfectly inoffensive, could've listen to Lorde or Charli instead

Very Good

Es ist ein mitreißendes Debütalbum, das Synthpop mit emotionaler Tiefe verbindet. Die glasklare Stimme von Lauren Mayberry trifft auf treibende Beats und eingängige Melodien – ein Sound, der sowohl tanzbar als auch berührend ist.

Oooh i did like this! Reminded me of the band Broods. Good things and happy to have a reason to try this album, better late than never! :)

Dette høres ut som en fordums tid. Jeg liker soundet og blir nostalgisk, men det er ikke nok til å løfte de middelmådige låtene.

I've been enjoying CHVRCHΞS ever since I caught their set at Lollapalooza back in 2018. A modern-day synthpop group where all three members share the workload on synthesizers and production, while Lauren Mayberry helms the lead vocals, they've refined their style and writing over the years to the point where I consider Screen Violence to be one of the best albums of 2021. Needless to say, I was looking forward to going back to their debut, and it still holds up over a decade later.

From the blaring start of "The Mother We Share", the instrumentation on this record harkens back to the early 1980s with such a booming impact and presence. The synths are crisp and balanced out by thicker beats and effects that keep the mix busy without feeling overcluttered. All the while, the production remained surprsingly rich, giving the sound enough breathing room and swell as needed. This sound comes especially handy when the band crafts such memorable hooks and melodies, with a lot of upbeat energy and distinct character behind Lauren's dignified yet approachable soprano vocals. Martin Doherty may do a solid enough job on his features, but it's Lauren who makes this album work so well with her measured and emotional delivery.

As for the lyrics, The Bones of What You Believe is about showing you everything you believe in your heart to be hollow. In the wrong hands, such a direction could be considered abrasive or obnoxious. Yet, CHVRCHΞS prevail here by including the necessary nuance and detail. "The Mother We Share" opens with Lauren assuming the role of the neglected sister opposite the favored son, as her delivery balances the anger and regret with the love she still holds for the brother in question. It's this kind of morally ambiguous framing that carries through the record, exploring various relationship troubles, like the tired weariness of "We Sink", the explosive anger of "Gun", the desperate recapture of an old flame on "Lies", and the cautious approach back to the lover on "Recover". There are a few notable exceptions. "Science/Visions" sees someone cave under pressure when confronting questions they can't understand, but still attempt with futility anyway, which is applicable for both relationships and the cultural divide between the supernatural/religion and science. Meanwhile "Under the Tide" is a stridently optimstic tune where the imagery of keeping one's head above water is a potent metaphor to keep one's spirit up after a fallout. The album's theme comes into focus on the closing number, "You Caught the Light", where one comes to realization that their beliefs and dreams may not ultimately matter compared to the greater truths or what their partner (or ex-partner) might actually want. It's a moment of humility and quasi-redemption that neatly bookends the record, encapsulating how we, as individuals, are not the center of the universe and should be open to other beliefs and interpretations, all framed in terms of human relationships that I think we can all relate.

Yeah, The Bones of What You Believe is great, a debut album that took a lot of risks. CHVRCHΞS have largely improved their songwriting since this record, but it's amazing how well they established their identity from the get-go.

The Good: We are not limited to one Chvrch!
The Bad: We don’t understand why…
The Ugly: Having your believes be compared to a femur…

Okay, so the above is silly, and makes little sense… kind of like this album being part of the 1001 list. Then again, it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great either… and here I sit, realizing that it just is all about believing, and bones, and chrvches…

I will say this, for now, and I’m over 500 albums into this list, I will argue that this is my favorite 2010+ album, so there’s that!

3*

Definitely not my cup of tea but some of the songs are not too bad ("The mother we share", "Under the tide"), so I can justify 2 stars.

Went from Gary Numan to this. The evolution of Synthpop.

The Mother We Share is the best song on the album. It's feels overly long and got a bit samey towards the end.

3/5.

Nope. I can't do it. This is not the first time I've heard songs from this albvm, but it's the first time I've attempted to intentionally listen to any of it. It's really terrible. It combines the worst of '80s synth pop with the worst 2010s pop singing.
I gave every song on the albvm a solid try. I listened to at least the first 30 seconds, and a random 30 seconds in the middle of each song. That's all I could manage. There were no songs that I could listen to straight throvgh.

It's hard to tell if this shovld be one star or two stars. One Star seems kind of mean to this band that is probably nice people. Bvt it does fit my one-star criteria of never wanting to hear it again and actively going ovt of my way to make svre that happens.