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May 24, 2018 Web Exclusive By Michael Watkins

The first two albums of Scottish synth-pop trio CHVRCHES’ career have shown how brilliant and how average they can be, largely in equal measure. Most of their debut album, The Bones Of What You Believe, is about as good as this sub-genre can possibly get, applying expressive and substantive melodic runs to infectious beats and brought together by the fascinatingly unique vocals of Lauren Mayberry.

The second album, Every Open Eye, was less successful in showing off the band’s obvious talents—the opening couple of tracks aside—swapping these beautiful synth melodies for a more pulsating, beat-focused record that felt more one-dimensional and, ultimately, less revelatory. It is then, of significant relief, to be able to say that the new album, Love Is Dead, finds them rediscovering the magic formula of their first release.

Going off the lead singles “Get Out,” “My Enemy,” and “Never Say Die,” this didn’t always seem that it was going to be the case as these songs largely provide a natural progression for the band to double-down on Every Open Eye‘s sound. Thankfully, album cuts like “Graffiti,” “Deliverance,” and “Forever” have set that particular record straight, and see the band deliver some of their best work to date.

Not exactly a faultless record, by any stretch of the imagination, Love Is Dead nonetheless confirms that The Bones of What You Believe was far from a fluke effort and that the band, regardless of the success found in the intervening years, are still capable of delivering exciting, engaging and boundary-pushing synth-pop when it really matters. (www.chvrch.es)

Author rating: 8/10