It was only a matter of time before Glasgow based CHVRCHES broke through into the consciousness of mainstream radio listeners.  The three-piece consisting of Laura Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty met in 2011 after the latter pair asked Mayberry to provide vocals on demos on which they’d been working.  Just a year later, CHVRCHES had been featured as The Guardian’s New Band of the Day, ranked in both The Huffington Post and NME tracks of 2012 for their single “Lies” and had been shortlisted for the BBC’s Sound of 2013 (past winners include Ellie Goulding, Jessie J and Adele).   With the accolades already being thrust upon them, it’s fair to say that there has been a good deal of hype already surrounding the band’s debut album The Bones of What You Believe (Glassnote).

It’s hard to describe the band’s sound without stating the obvious.  As many have said, CHVRCHES sound like 2013’s answer to The Knife.  As one quite brilliant comment on a YouTube clip stated “I feel like I’m in an 80’s strip club”. Hard to dispute really, so we’ll stick with that.

Many a good album has started with its strongest track* and with “The Mother We Share” first up, CHVRCHES follow suit.  The current single (in the UK) is an excellent indication of what to expect from the rest of the album.  With a massive synth driven sound laden with impossibly catchy vocals, it’s easy to see how it’s danced on to many of the top playlists in the UK including the esteemed BBC Radio 1 ‘A’ list.  Drawing on this support from the BBC the band also recorded a breakthrough session for the station in late 2012 with that version of “The Mother We Share” already racking up over 187,000 hits on YouTube.  The album’s second track “We Sink” was also recorded for the session and again sees Mayberry’s vocals sitting atop lashings of synth ensuring a level of familiarity which continues throughout The Bones of What You Believe.

Whilst this familiarity is comforting, it is also potentially the album’s biggest weakness. Although to be expected for a band so early into their journey, at least a quarter of the album’s tracks have already been released in one form or another, with both the aforementioned  “Lies” and “The Mother We Share” first brought out in 2012 (despite the latter being re-released to support the album).  Not a cardinal sin, but it would have been great to have thrown in a few more of those tracks previously unheard.

However, there’s no denying that the formula works.  CHVRCHES do mix up the sound a little by bringing the tempo down on tracks such as “Tether”, swapping vocal duties on “You Caught The Light” or switching the sound up completely as on the cosmic sounding “Science/Visions”.  But the strongest moments come on when the band stick to the plan.  Push the tempo, keep it upbeat and put Mayberry front and centre.  Simple.

On album mid-point “Recover” it’s almost a given that you’ll find yourself singing along.  Again, having had its own EP Release earlier in the year, it may not be the first listen for some, but either way there’s something about Mayberry’s childlike vocal which entices you to join in.

All things considered, The Bones of What You Believe is a strong debut with plenty of moments to get excited about.  It will be interesting to see how (if at all) the band go about mixing things up for future releases given the somewhat limited scope of their instrumentation.  There’s been many a recent electronic band who have struggled to live up to the success of album one; Klaxons, MGMT, The Bravery to name but a few.  However, if CHVRCHES continue to pack the album with the same quality of stand-alone singles, there’s every chance they’ll avoid the pitfalls of those who came before them.

The band are currently in the U.S. playing shows across the north of the country before returning in November to visit those States missed first time round. With festival and tour dates across Europe all summer honing their live show, there’s no doubt they’ll continue to impress and pick up plenty of new supporters – or should I say disciples – across the Atlantic.

* “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Is This It?”, “London Calling”, “Welcome To The Jungle”