Chvrches - Never Ending Circles

As their mammoth, two-year world tour continued, Chvrches never looking like burning out. In fact, with every trip to the States and big-league festival slot, they returned a more emphatic force. The lightshow was bigger, brighter, the showmanship more in-your-face. Even the synth-backed lasers seemed to arrive in more deluxe packages with every run of shows.

Behind the scenes, it would appear, Chvrches were also going up several gears on record. New album ‘Every Open Eye’ shuns any premonition that it’s impossible to create pristine, gut-busting synth-pop on the road. The trio could have been studio recluses for half a decade and they wouldn’t arrive with anything as sharp as ‘Never Ending Circles’, an album opener that spells out in giant bold caps - Chvrches have upped their game.

Synth lines jostle for space, vocal lines arrive multi-layered, but there’s never a desire for extra space in ‘Every Open Eye’. It’s dense and overlapping but at no point does it overwhelm. The staples of Chvrches’ debut are there too - Lauren Mayberry’s vocals swinging from sharp and pronounced to something made out of samples, backed by flashy handclap patterns - sharing a space with bolder ideas that’ve taken years to harness. This band have progressed before our very eyes, and ‘Never Ending Circles’ gives indication that they’re still stampeding ahead.