CHVRCHES - Recover

CHVRCHES can write one hell of a chorus. We know that much already. And they’re not just choruses that hit you right in the centre and get you shouting in unison, they’re dark, sinister beasts. They cast shadows on glossy synth-pop. They stick in your head like a dirty thought.

Midway through ‘Recover’ you think you’ve already stumbled upon the chorus. A light, pace-shifting verse gives way to a sparkly uplift, Lauren Mayberry’s vocals staying in tow with the upping of pitch. It’s pretty. It’s pleasant. It’s not blow-your-socks-off good though.

And then all of a sudden the actual chorus announces itself. Like the revealing of the real bad guy at the end of a thriller, it’s a plot twist that’s both shocking, tragic and mind-blowingly brilliant. The synths turn their heads. The darkness rears its head and Mayberry bellows ‘I’ll give you one more chance, say, we can change our old ways’ and that, right there, is the chorus we know Chvrches are capable of delivering.

‘Recover’, then, is a truly stunning rising to the challenge. Everybody knew these guys could write pop songs. We just didn’t realise how many they had in their locker. Don’t say we didn’t tell you so, they’ll say.



The ‘Recover’ EP is out 25th March in the UK via Virgin/ Goodbye and on 26th March in the US via Glassnote.