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Screen Violence
2021 studio album by Chvrches From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Screen Violence is the fourth studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches. It was released on 27 August 2021 through EMI Records in the UK and Glassnote Records in the US.[2] It received positive reviews from critics.
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Background and recording
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The album began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as ideas shared over video calls and audio-sharing programs. It was recorded between Glasgow and Los Angeles;[3] unlike their previous album Love Is Dead, the band did not utilise an external producer.[4]
Screen Violence has been described as a horror-themed album.[5][6] Frontwoman Lauren Mayberry said it felt "freeing initially" for it to start out as something "escapist" but that the lyrics ended up being "definitely still personal".[2] The title came from an idea for the name of the band, but was then adapted for the title of the album due to the theme of violence "on screen, by screens and through screens – with songs addressing feelings of loneliness, disillusionment and fear, among other emotions".[7] Martin Doherty called the album title "a bit more literal [than just a concept]. When we were making the record, it was like half of our lives were lived through screens."[7]
The single "How Not to Drown" evolved from a piano and drum demo recorded by Doherty and was written during a time when he was dealing with "crippling depression and anxiety".[8]
Screen Violence is also the first Chvrches studio album to not have a track where Martin Doherty provides the main vocals, though Doherty does sing the bridge on "Violent Delights".
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Release and promotion
Lead single "He Said She Said" was released on 19 April 2021.[9] The album was announced on June 2 alongside the second single, "How Not to Drown", a collaboration with Robert Smith, lead singer of the Cure.[7] The third single, "Good Girls", was released on July 12.[10]
On October 29, the band released a "director's cut" edition, containing three additional songs.[11] The album was promoted with a North American tour from November to December 2021.[12][13]
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Reception
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The ratings aggregation website Metacritic described Screen Violence as having "universal acclaim".[14]
The composition was largely praised by reviewers. Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork praised the variety of sonic influences of the album.[5] Exclaim! reviewer Paul Blinov called the album's sound "lively and responsive to the mood", considering it more sonically ambitious than their previous work.[16] Contrastingly, The Line of Best Fit writer Marie Oleinik perceived it as sometimes bereft of "imagination and sonic diversity", stating that she failed to distinguish some tracks even after repeat listening.[17] Grant Sharples of Paste considered the album to be too similar to the band's past material, and its later portion as being made up of "forgettable material".[18] Whilst Olienik considered Robert Smith's vocals poorly incorporated in "How Not to Drown", Blinov considered it "excellent goth-pop", and AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares described it as "gloomy enough to honor the legacies of everyone involved".[17][16][4]
The album's thematic content was also widely commended, being described as "more mature" than Chvrches' previous work by The A.V. Club writer Alex McLevy.[15] Slant reviewer Eric Mason felt that the album "lives up to its title’s promise of anguish and suspicion of the Hollywood machine", considering it a return to form after Love Is Dead.[6] Phares described it as the band's most purposeful record to date,[4] and PopMatters praised the feminist themes in the lyrics, describing "Good Girls" as a "righteous rebuke of hypocrisy".[1]
Robert Smith and Chvrches won the Best Song By A UK Artist award for "How Not to Drown" at the NME Awards 2022.[19]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Iain Cook, Martin Doherty, and Lauren Mayberry; "How Not to Drown" co-written with Robert Smith.
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Personnel
Chvrches
- Lauren Mayberry – vocals, keyboards, percussion, production
- Iain Cook – keyboards, programming, guitar, bass, production, mixing
- Martin Doherty – keyboards, programming, guitar, bass, additional vocals on "Violent Delights", production, mixing
Additional personnel
- Robert Smith – vocals, bass (playing a Fender Bass VI) and backwards guitar on "How Not To Drown"
- Gavin Lurssen – mastering
- Samuel Stewart – vocal engineering
- Scott Kiernan – creative direction
- Lary 7 – original cover photography
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Charts
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References
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