CHVRCHES – Page 2

CHVRCHES – Get Away

“It’s exactly what you’d expect from them, and I mean that in a good way.”

Tim: For no readily apparent reason, Zane Lowe and others at Radio 1 decided to take the film Drive, get rid of all the music from it, and put new tracks on instead.

Tom: If I remember rightly, Drive has an astonishing soundtrack — the idea of “remixing” the film isn’t as strange as it might seem.

Tim: A number of acts got involved, such as Bastille, Eric Prydz, The 1975 and CHVRCHES, who did this.

Tom: All I can hear from that intro is the phrase “Ed, really?” repeated over and over again.

Tim: I’ll be honest, I’ve not seen either version of the film so I’ve no idea how well this worked with it, but it’s a good track to listen to, coming with all the usual CHVRCHES benefits like Lauren’s pleasant Scottish vocals and a warm and tuneful electronic underscoring. It does take a while to get going, as it wasn’t until the chorus I really felt YES, this is a good CHVRCHES track.

Tom: It’s exactly what you’d expect from them, and I mean that in a good way.

Tim: As on Friday, there’s a somewhat unintelligible backing vocal, here after the chorus, but again it works, and combines with everything else to give a very listenable track.

CHVRCHES – Gun

“I first heard it and thought ‘oh’.”

Tim: Unfortunately, Recover got neither the airplay nor the sales it deserved, and charted really rather low. However, Lauren, Iain and Martin are hoping this one will fare somewhat better, and help them live up to their Sound of 2013 shortlisting.

Tom: Thanks for that reminder, Tim. How are the rest of the Sound of 2013 crew doing?

Tim: Ooh, six months on isn’t a bad time to check, I suppose. Not so bad – AlunaGeorge got to number 2 as a featured artist and have been playlisted a few times, Laura Mvula has apparently had a top 10 album (though I’ve not heard of her at all). HAIM have had a couple of top forty tracks and Angel Haze is best known for releasing a couple of ‘diss tracks’ aimed at Azealia Banks.

Tim: This took a while to grow on me – I first heard it and thought ‘oh’.

Tom: Yep, same here. It was more of a “meh”, but the sentiment’s the same. Surprisingly good video, though: taking the 80s aesthetic and using modern tech.

Tim: Not hugely special, not even near the same league as Recover. But I listened a few more times, and it grew on me a bit, and then someone played it at work and I really liked it, although I didn’t know recognise it as this track. Based on that, I reckon it’s a really good song to hear in the background.

Tom: Damning with faint praise there. So it’s, what, elevator music?

Tim: It doesn’t stand up to that much scrutiny, and if you really pay attention to it there’s not a lot to say about it – sure, it’s got the nice twinkly synths and her lovely vocals, but the main problem is that it’s just not what it should be. I know I said last week that we shouldn’t judge tracks based on previous releases, but here it’s unfortunately almost impossible not to. On the other hand, listen to it while you’re concentrating on something else, like I’m doing now writing this, think of it as just another electropop track, and it’s absolutely fine.

Just, nowhere near as good as Recover.

CHVRCHES – Recover

“Basically, it’s lovely.”

Tim: I pre-ordered this debut single about a month ago, probably after hearing it on the radio, and promptly forgot all about it; on Monday I woke up and found it had downloaded, and I listened to it again and remembered why I’d ordered it.

Tim: Basically, it’s lovely. They’re a Glasgow-based band, and (despite not being remotely guitar-based) placed at number 5 on the BBC Sound of 2013 poll. I do hope that this time it’s accurate, I really do, because this really should do well, in a just world.

I don’t really know what’s going on in the video.

Tom: Nope, neither do I – it’s always a brave move not to include the actual band in a video when they’re not well-established.

Tim: True, although I think that might be them in the TV screens at the end. Still obscure, though. But anyway, I don’t watch the video when I’m walking around with headphones on – I listen to the music. And that’s just brilliant.

Tom: I felt almost breathless during some of those verses: there’s an intensity in the pacing of those lyrics, an odd pattern of pauses that don’t fit into traditional “lines” of lyrics.

Tim: Yes, and I reckon that disjointed vocal is a stroke of genius, as it works on two levels – firstly on its own to convey the relationship issues that are being sung about, but also with that synth backing, as it gives it the extra prominence it really deserves.

Tom: I’m not sure I have the same reaction to the music as you: I get restless listening to it, and I’m not sure it’s altogether an enjoyable experience. It is a good track, though.

Tim: This is a fantastically put-together song, and I can only hope for more like it.