The Bones of What You Believe

Just hard to get into the synth pop for me.

EDM always feels very of its time, and this definitely feels like 2013/14 to me. Just the opening bars of "The Mother We Share" can transport me to those days, and the optimism I had... Of course nw we live in a hellscape but the escapism is a nice byproduct.

It also reminds me of the opening of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and dancing Tunnocks Teacakes

I had never heard of this band before. I was curious. A Scottish electronica/pop band. The best thing I can say about the music is that it played in the background without being too distracting. I wasn't interested in the album. I don't need to and probably won't listen to it again. 3/5

Again, good, but how is this one of the best albums?

After listening to this from the generator I have fell in love with this album as well as Every Open Eye.

It is really good!

I mvst admit… I’m a fan

Screen Violence was one of my favourite listens from 2021. I should admit that I didn’t listen to a second CHVRCHES album until today. However:

*rocks in a rickety chair* back in my day iTunes used to give away free songs to promote new artists. Through that I got tastes of artists like Phosphorescent, Bahamas, Bastille, and CHVRCHES, the last of which gave away the song “Recover”. Long story short, I was rocking to “Recover” years before I bothered to learn any other of their songs

Maybe due to that early exposure, I find this a joy to listen to. As indebted to yesterday's Cocteau Twins as the summery pop in She's Not Unusual by Cyndi Lauper, CHVRCHES’s debut holds up 11 years later. No notes

HL: “Recover”, “The Mother We Share”, “Tether”, “Science/Visions”, “Lungs”, "Night Skies"

Synth pop. Not my genre but not unenjoyable. At home in an 80’s playlist. Someone put a lot of effort into it.

Favourite songs: Lies, We Sink, Recover, Under the Tide, Night Sky, The Mother We Share, Strong Hand, Tether, Gun, By the Throat

Least favourite songs: Science/Visions, You Caught the Light

4/5

Some really lovely sound. Not as profoundly hooking as a Postal Service or Imogen Heap, but very much worth the listen

I liked this album and played it a lot several years ago; it still holds up pretty well. 4/5

I really liked this but need a revisit to confirm if it's a 5 or not.

This is the first album I've had so far by an artist I've seen live! I saw Chvrches when they opened for Coldplay

The only song I was familiar with was The Mother We Share which I like. The rest aren't very good - some were terrible

And over an hour long? Rough

The male singers songs were much better than the females

Music you'd hear in H&M stores

2 ⭐️

This wasn’t bad at all. I enjoyed it, but caught myself tuning out by the end.

CHVRCHES is a band that I should listen to more than I do. A lot of people who's music opinions I tend to share are big fans. And it's not that I don't like them, I just never really listened to them much. And I'm going to make a point to change that because this album was really really good. It's not perfect, but I would gladly listen to it again.

Higher register voices get to me after while I think I like this music better as singles

Pretty straight forward synth-pop, but gotta admit I enjoyed it. I hear a lot of echoes of Taylor Swift's 1989 sound, which came out a year later (not making any accusations - it's not THAT original). I just found myself liking the vibe and Lauren Mayberry's voice. I'd probably go with a 3.5 if that were an option, but since it's not I'll round up simply because I liked listening to it. Favorite tracks: The Mother We Share, We Sink (I like how the odd off beat rhythm in the opening settled into a straightforward beat in the chorus), Lies, Under the Tide, Science/Visions (sounded like it belonged on the Tron Legacy soundtrack, which I guess means it reminds me of Daft Punk), You Caught the Light (nice dreamy vibe to close out the album).

The music of this roguish trio distinguishes itself positively from most other synthpop bands of this era, because they sound a lot less dark, cynical and generally arty-farty. That's not to say that their lyrics have the same positive vibes.
Great album and a superb debut

LOVE Lauren Mayberry's vocals. Gorgeous blend of 80s synths, modern pop and a sheen of British 90s electronica. Could I definitely say it's in the greatest 1001 albums? Not sure. Do I love it? Yep.

Meh

An album of its time, with the same production choices and vocal inflections that seemed to get every pop station itching for more of the same you could argue this era of music has permanently left a crack in the pop industry, one that didn't really start to heal until the last couple of years. It just feels like every song from 2013 sounded like this, and if it didn't, it was trying to. This specific attempt is inoffensive most of the time, with decent moments buried under what feels like heaps of overproduced beats and synths, only feeling especially eye-roll worthy when the male vocalist appears and it becomes a cheese fest. I know this era is trying to emulate the 80s in its design, but the 80s has a charm to it that this lacks, and I say that as someone who did not grow up in the 80s at all. That isn't to say all 80s music is free from the issues here, because its far from that, but nothing from this brand of synthpop seems to have that memorable quality to it, only leading to me asking if I know any of the music here, or if its just the flavor of the week.

Anyway, I've gotten a tad off topic. There's some neat things near the end (although not that final track, yuck) with scratchy bass lines and neat soundscapes that I could see getting one pumped in the right mood, but otherwise I feel this earns its way as memories of a bygone era more than something to still listen to today, and if I'm talking like that about an album from only a decade ago, then who knows how poorly this could age in another ten years?