CHARMING NOISE | CHVRCHES

After being sick for the past three days with a damn head cold (the kind of thing that makes you feel awful, but not awful enough that you can really excuse yourself to be completely bedridden, but if you try to exert yourself in any real way, you feel like you're going to pass out), so I decided that it might be time to do something useful and make some soup. Since cooking is one of those activities where I initially feel like "Ugh, it's going to be hard!" (much like working out), but once I get started, I'm like "Look at me! I'm so useful! I'm so talented! I made something!" I find that throwing on some music usually really helps me ease into the activity. A couple of weeks ago, the melancholy sighs of Sharon Van Etten were really doing it for me ("I'm unemployed and sad. Sharon gets meeeeeee."), but today I was looking for something more upbeat. Lo and behold, I found Chvrches' debut album on NPR's "First Listen," because life is sometimes not cruel and things work out (I'm realizing that this post is coming off as somewhat bitter and sad. I apologize. Kind of).

I've been anticipating this album ever since I heard "Recover" earlier this year and immediately wanted to purchase the album. Alas, there was only an EP out at the time, but September 24 is the official magical date when The Bones of What You Believe will be released. It's the kind of fairly ornate electro-pop that Purity Ring brought to our ears last year, but, dare I say it, it's a lot more fun. I can dance to this stuff, and believe me, I will. But it's not an album full of mindless dance tracks; there was some serious thought put into the lyrics, the arrangements, the textures, and the overall sound of the album. Sure, you could dance to the perfectly orchestrated builds in tracks like "Lies" and "Under the Tide," but you could also just sit with your headphones on and really listen purely to appreciate the thought and artistry that went into every track. In reality, to really understand their electronic talents, all you really need to do is check out their cover of the Game of Thrones theme. 

Check out the preview by heading over to NPR.