Chvrches. So hawt right now. Everyone’s favorite hipster boom-clap outfit has released their sophomore effort, Every Open Eye. The hype-singularity of a group delivers even more Top-40 EDM for Pitchforkers, with few forays outside that formula. In fact, every song aims to be all hooks, all the time, resulting in somewhere between a saccharine stomachache with a side of insight and their stated goal of “emo with synths.” It starts mostly with the former, and the last third of the album twists towards the latter.
‘Never Ending Circles‘
Woof, that is sugary. This two-chorder has Mayberry giving some sarcastic toasts to her passive-aggressive ex from a jilted-lover’s point of view. The beat is as upfront and to-the-point as she wishes her ex would be, but perhaps too much so: [LISTEN]
‘Leave a Trace‘
Stabbing 80’s synth bass-line, syncopated pop vocal melody, message about a relationship gone awry turning into perseverance and independence. It’s pretty boilerplate hipster-pop for those who secretly want to listen to Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen but also think they’re too good for those acts: [LISTEN]
‘Keep You on My Side‘
This arpeggiated house beat should just have a Speak-and-Spell saying “80’s, 80’s, 80’s, 80’s” on every untzing kick drum. Mayberry’s lyrics give a more sophisticated yearning to the piece, but it’s a small fraction of the overall effect unless you’re already a Chvrches fan:
‘Make Them Gold‘
This one serves a sort of rallying cry for its listeners, based on perseverance, self-acceptance, and the poppiest of synths. Once again, its messages are a little more nuanced than sonically-similar tracks’ usual ‘young and invincible’ vibe, but the sound is still overly cute:
‘Clearest Blue‘
Reusing the chord progression/bassline from the “Never Ending Circles,” this one has a more hopeful message and lyrically drops the album title. As the chorus fully hits, the EDM goes full tilt with a stabbing octave on the track’s root. Instead of “going dark,” they’ve opted for radio crossover:
‘High Enough to Carry You Over‘
Martin Doherty handles vocal duties here, once again detailing a failing relationship, only with more general pop-trope (and Rick-Rolled) lyricism than Mayberry has used. The synth work, despite its catchiness and the Miami Sound Machine rhythms, also adds little of interest to the end result:
‘Empty Threat‘
The tracks continue to run together, a homogenous blend of untzing electro-pop with 80’s flair and chord progressions plucked from the Top-40 conveyor belt, although Mayberry goes for some nautical themes here to spice it up. Still, on the floor, some word-gems will not save bland dance rehash:
‘Down Side of Me‘
The balladic bleepity bloops make for the most interesting record here yet, refraining from dumping migraine-inducing pounds of pure fructose into the mix as previous tracks did. Mayberry’s voice is beautiful enough to keep it plenty catchy as she gets self-deprecating and self-improving:
‘Playing Dead‘
Again dipping into 80’s fatback snares and arpeggios, this one is still more memorable than the previous similar jams. There are urgent boasts, and that synthy thirst that can only be quenched by euphoric nocturnal “skyline[s];” all that stuff that is dig-able from the decade:
‘Bury It‘
Hmmmm, pretty cheesy. Even for synthpop. Again, most of the entire synth theme hinges on a single note, and no amount of the crew “bury-[ing negativity] and ris[ing] above” will change the blandness there. PMA is a healthy life choice, but not enough to make solid tunes out of:
‘Afterglow‘
Rounding out the album is a building, percussion-less organ ballad that really does make fit “emo with synths” self-description. However, it swings big, aiming for the cinematic-closer feel of “Motion Picture Soundtrack,” “giv[ing] up all [they’ve] got” in the process. Where was this stuff earlier?:
