Chvrches: Love Is Dead Album Review
Despite trying new sounds and interesting lyrical territory, “Love Is Dead” was supposed to be the Glasgow trio’s opportunity to make a really special album — but ended up falling short.
2013 was an amazing year for me.
I finally graduated college, got my first “big boy job,” and a few amazing releases provided quite the soundtrack to my life. In particular, Chvrches dropped their debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, and it had me hooked the moment I got my hands on it. From the engaging and captivating performances of lead singer Lauren Mayberry to the absolutely addicting synth-heavy production laid down by bandmates Iain Cook and Martin Doherty, the album was a gratifying indie-pop record on multiple levels.
The band was able to reproduce similar results with their 2015 follow-up album, Every Open Eye. So when the first single of their latest album dropped back in January, I was preparing for another excellent entry in Chvrches’ discography.
- Spoiler Alert: I set myself up for disappointment. Love Is Dead is by no means a bad album, but Chvrches is capable of much more.
What They Did Right
The single most substantial element of Chvrches will always be the face of the band, Lauren Mayberry. Her voice is captivating in the sense that she can go through a complete range of emotions on songs that otherwise would fit more self-indulgent purposes. It has this immensely likable quality to it that grabs your ear — and your attention.
When backed with equally superb production and songwriting, Chvrches has all the necessary parts to put forth grandiose soundscapes with powerful hooks that can draw in just about anyone.
And for the most part, Mayberry is in fine form on Love Is Dead.
She continues her perfected approach to anthemic yet bittersweet lyrics, such as reminiscing about how good things were before a relationship goes south. On instances where Mayberry is put front and center, she usually has the freedom to shine, even when the supporting instrumental is lackluster at best.
This record also signifies the first time the band invited outside collaborators to help co-produce and co-write songs. They’ve been apprehensive to bring in outside creative minds as they have been very protective of their creative process since the band’s early days (their debut was produced almost entirely by the trio in Cook’s home studio in Glasgow). But the band knew that with their third album, they would need to shake things up in order to avoid the pitfalls of staying in one lane for too long.
Chvrches turned to the award-winning songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin with production on a majority of Love Is Dead. In 2017 alone, Kurstin was credited with collaborating most notably with artists like Beck, Sia, Foo Fighters, and many more. Kurstin had a significant impact on the better tracks on the album, but his involvement doesn’t quite have the results you’d expect on the rest of Love Is Dead.
What Fell Short
No use getting around it — Love Is Dead has a quite a few 80’s synth-inspired tracks, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But the album as a whole seems to awkwardly straddle this line between understated nods to 80’s production a la Carly Rae Jepsen’s E•MO•TION, but not fully committing to crafting nostalgic-heavy sounds like Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic.
There’s a difference between repurposing specific sonic elements from the past and trying to recreate them altogether. Love Is Dead too often crosses the line of 80’s synthwave-esque production without just embracing it completely.
To demonstrate what I’m suggesting, take a listen to this track from Love Is Dead:
Now listen to this song by Robert Parker that shows how going all in on 80’s synthwave sounds creates something unique yet familiar.
In my mind, you need to pick one or the other — either you sample a few sounds here and there, or you slide face first into recreating music that feels like it’s from a different time.
Even if the band’s goal was to straddle this line purposefully, the production feels somewhat buried behind Mayberry’s vocals. While her singing should always be the focal point, the backing instrumentals rarely had its moments where they were the main attraction.
What’s interesting is that while Kurstin had his hand in the best tracks on the album, the songs where he isn’t involved are glaringly obvious. With a few throwaways towards the backend of the record, the most apparent instance where Kurstin should have been brought in was the song “Miracle” with Steve Mac on production.
Mac is a legendary British record producer, boasting recent collaborations with some of the largest pop acts on the planet — such as Demi Lovato, One Direction, James Blunt, and Ed Sheeran. The pairing with Chvrches seems like a match made in heaven when in reality, he totally misses the mark as to what makes Chvrches a unique pop group.
On “Miracle,” Mayberry’s distorted vocals on the hook comes off as a second-rate Taylor Swift with a somewhat generic instrumental that feels more appropriate as an Imagine Dragons B-side. If there is one song on Love Is Dead that feels like a broad (and unsuccessful) attempt at appealing to mainstream listeners, “Miracle” is that track.
If there’s one final issue I must bring up is that even on the best tracks, the drum samples and rhythms feel remarkably held back and reserved. Thinking back to The Bones of What You Believe, nearly every song on that album was a banger to some degree, and even the slower tempo tracks still had stimulating rhythmic devices to keep the momentum pushing forward. Moving to more straightforward and less syncopated rhythms feels like a significant step backward.
Album Favorites:
Least Favorite Tracks:
- My Enemy
- Miracle
- Graves
- God’s Plan (there can only be one decent ‘God’s Plan’)
Worth picking up on vinyl?
Well — it depends.
For me, the album is still a half-decent album in Chvrches’ discography with some great tracks that will only sound better on a turntable setup. If you’re a devoted fan of the band, this album should find it’s way into your vinyl collection.
Provided the band doesn’t put out a really cool vinyl release, adding this one to my collection is pretty unlikely.
Closing Thoughts
Despite having some great songs I will keep revisiting, the album overall is the weakest entry in comparison to their two previous releases. I still have hope that Chvrches have another stellar album in them, but for now, the number of forgettable and subpar tracks on Love Is Dead result in a lot of unnecessary, dead weight.
Thanks for reading! What did you think about the newest album by Chvrches? What’s another album you think I should review next? Let me know by hitting me up on Twitter and follow me on Medium!
