Tag: CHVRCHES

NEW CHVRCHES!! – “Leave a Trace”

CHVRCHES officially premiered their new single “Leave a Trace” off their upcoming album “Every Open Eye” on BBC Radio 1!

In her interview with Annie Mac, Lauren Mayberry discussed the band’s writing process – particularly balancing sad, intense lyrics with less intense beats as displayed in “Leave a Trace.”

And yes – “Leave a Trace” is actually a breakup song instead of one of the BoxSpeaker stretches in interpretation. Mayberry describes the “relief” of the end of a relationship but also discusses the issues that led to it.

“Blank Space” + “Lungs” – Taylor Swift X CHVRCHES

Redditor dizzykiwi3 discovered that Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” fits almost beat-to-beat with “Lungs” by CHVRCHES.

Although, this isn’t the first time someone thought that a Taylor Swift / CHVRCHES breakup would make an amazing mashup.

Note: BoxSpeaker is not dizzykiwi3 – just saw dizzykiwi3’s post on Reddit.

L’été EP – Musique Le Pop

Musique Le Pop just released their “L’été EP” – a five-track collection of Norwegian dreampop for Summer 2014.

Building upon their 80s-influenced “Turn to Sand,” Musique Le Pop spreads out their sound in both directions from their first single. On one end of tempo, “Mateo” lends itself to “Into the Groove” dancepop. “In My Arms” is slower and sadder with Camera Obscura heartbreak vocals. “Falling in Love” has almost a CHVRCHES feel, particularly at the 2:10 mark when the guitar riffs lead the way to two beats of synth chords. The EP ends with “Dream Out Loud” which stands out due to its ethereal, subdued nature, exemplifying Musique Le Pop’s wide range of styles.

CHVRCHES Reworked Three Singles

If the player doesn’t work, head over to CHVRCHES’s MTV Artist page.

CHVRCHES reworked three of their singles (“The Mother We Share,” “Recover,” and “Gun”) – and it’s amazing!

The three reworks have even more intensity, particularly through the addition of more layers of sound and tempo changes. The beats in “Recover” were sped up and pushed more toward the treble side in addition to being more hi-hat based while “Gun” and “The Mother We Share” were remarkably slowed down.

[SHOW/SONG ALERT:] “Lost at Sea” by TAXES (Bottom of the Hill TONIGHT)

San Francisco-based TAXES premiered their new track “Lost at Sea” through Breakup Records this morning.

A mix of light electronic notes with a 2004-esque indie rock, they are San Francisco’s answer to Glasgow’s Blue Sky Archives (you know, Lauren Mayberry’s pre-CHVRCHES Pinback-esque project). The male and female harmonies balance each other the same way that the faster, more intense post-bridge portions counter the softer, mellower verses.

While intricately pieced together and instrumentally and lyrically dense, “Lost at Sea” counterintuitively projects an earlier time in indie music – when Pinback and STARS orchestrations reigned supreme, weaving subtle synths into mostly guitar/drums/bass-type tracks.

Catch them at their Bottom of the Hill single release in San Francisco tonight!

[VIDEO:] “Lies” by CHVRCHES

Today, CHVRCHES announced the music video for the first track they released – “Lies”:

Following a similar formula as their music video for “The Mother We Share,” this video focuses on a grey and black color pallette and stars a main character followed by/chased by a mysterious entity, electric clouds, CHVRCHES’s signature light displays, and allusions to a conspiracy.

I always thought that “Lies” was about someone bragging about lying to the person they’re romantically involved with (“I can sell you lies. You can’t get enough. Make a true believer of anyone.”) and being proud of stringing that person along, having power over them (“I can call you up when I feel alone. I can feed your dirty mind like I know I know that you want.”).

However, the music video’s dark theme of mind-control conspiracies makes me wonder if “Lies” was actually meant as a commentary on the world of marketing. With the men in suits and the Matrix-like headgear and that Emma Stone doppleganger with the Rosemary’s Baby clothing and scheming stare.

STREAM: “The Bones of What You Believe” by CHVRCHES NPR Preview

NPR is streaming a preview of CHVRCHES’s upcoming and much anticipated album The Bones of What You Believe!

BoxSpeaker’s counting down the days until the album’s release on September 24.

Finally hearing the mastered versions of so many songs we’ve heard throughout the year across both California and the whole UK (remember that time I went crazy and ran away to the UK to figure everything out?) is mindblowing.

The live versions will always provide an unique intimacy, but the mastered versions definitely contain little auditory details that unfortunately get lost in the reverberation against concert venues’ walls.

Remember to listen to the NPR stream here: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/15/221714011/first-listen-chvrches-the-bones-of-what-you-believe#playlist

Cheers and Happy Monday!

[VIDEO ALERT:] “The Mother We Share” by CHVRCHES

CHVRCHES released the music video for the single that put them on the map: “The Mother We Share.”

Just like their video for “Gun” and “Recover” – CHVRCHES features the band performing but with a touch of electric magical realism – with the main character of the video for “The Mother We Share” transforming into energy and the electronic ether and connecting with the whole city – almost like Tron.

Setting the Record Straight for People Searching “Lauren Mayberry Boyfriend”

I’ll preface this post with the fact that I’m really into data and analytics – especially when they deal with websites.

So one thing I’ve noticed while checking my site’s Google Analytics is that people keep finding my blog by searching “Lauren Mayberry boyfriend” and similar terms. In fact, someone even found my blog by searching “Lauren+Mayberry+lesbian” – crazy right?

Let me set the record straight for all the people searching “Lauren Mayberry Boyfriend” and the one person who searched “Lauren+Mayberry+Lesbian.”

I have the biggest celebrity crush on Lauren Mayberry. If she said she professed her love for me, then I’d take her right to NYC and same-sex-marry her.

So who is Lauren Mayberry’s boyfriend? Is Lauren Mayberry a lesbian? Is BoxSpeaker Bernie actually Lauren Mayberry’s secret girlfriend?

The answer to all that is: I DON’T KNOW. Well, except the last one – sadly, I’m not her secret girlfriend 🙁 I have my informed hypotheses, but I won’t disclose them. 🙂

Anyway – check out the song that made me fall in love with them: