Four albums in, and CHVRCHES have probably been through the toughest part of their story to date. Returning with their new full-length ‘Screen Violence’, they’re backing down for nobody.
Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Sebastian Mlynarski & Kevin J Thomson.
After CHVRCHES finished their fourth album ‘Screen Violence’, vocalist Lauren Mayberry had one worry. “I just hope I wasn’t supremely negative about everything. I mean, the record opens with the line ‘I don’t want to say I’m afraid to die’, so it’s not exactly a chart pop album. There is a lot of heavy subject matter, but what we’re doing is trying to figure a way through it all.”
The last time we spoke to the band, it was backstage at Reading Festival 2019, where all three members, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and Lauren, were adamant that for the first time in the band’s history, they needed some time off. After distancing themselves from ‘Here With Me’ collaborator Marshmello after he chose to work with legally convicted abuser Chris Brown, the band had spent the majority of that year getting death threats. The ongoing media coverage saw places that had largely ignored CHVRCHES existence suddenly start using photos of Lauren doing her job, followed by quotes about how she was terrified of the trolls and the rape threats that came from Brown’s toxic fanbase. “That fallout, or the way abuse is spoken about in general, it’s all part of this grotesque, obsessed enjoyment of misogyny.” It’s just one aspect of Screen Violence that their new albums questions.
The worst of the abuse came in Spring 2019, but the band decided to carry on touring and promoting ‘Love Is Dead’. “Stopping would just show weakness, so we carried on,” says Lauren, who believes that perseverance “is a good part of my personality because we get a lot done, but on the flip side, the wheels are bound to fall off that bus eventually.” Reading was meant to be the end of the cycle, but things got extended due to the success of both ‘Here With Me’ and follow-up single ‘Death Stranding’ from the video game of the same name. Three more months of touring and “people talking shit” followed before the band could finally take that break and escape the fishbowl.
