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With their last album, Every Open Eye, being released in late 2015 it has certainly been a long period of limbo for CHVRCHES fans. Leaving their fans tense with anticipation, the synth-pop trio from Scotland have been dropping teasers and hints on social media for months but no solid information has been revealed – until now, that is.

Their third album (branded as #CHV3) is a follow up to the critically acclaimed debut album The Bones of What You Believe, and UK chart conquering album Every Open Eye. But band members Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty seem to be paving the path for musical expansion as they have started working with the producer Greg Kurstin who is known for working with the likes of popstars Adele and Pink. Mayberry, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, spoke about the radical departure from their idiosyncratic dark synth-pop sound that characterised their first albums. “[Kurstin] pushed what we were doing to be bigger in some ways, but he also pushed us to be weirder. He’d be like, ‘If the vocal melodies are as sweet and as precise as this, why don’t we make these other sounds so f-ed up and gnarly and strange?’ I loved that“, Mayberry recalls.

So, what do we know so far?

1. The new single is called ‘Get Out’

The trio recently performed a social media cleanse, wiping all tweets and Instagram posts and leaving an almost ominous blank slate in the album’s wake. They then released this post on Instagram, which is captioned ‘GET IN’. The short video clip shows Mayberry slowly and delicately painting a heart/cross hybrid symbol on a mirror with lipstick, with an eerie screeching instrumental that then devolves into a heavy, retro-style synth refrain that would not be out of place in a Stranger Things episode.

If run through Shazam, the song is revealed to be called ‘Get Out’ and is listed as a song by CHVRCHES. ‘Get Out’ by CHVRCHES is also a listed song on Genius – a huge online collection of songs lyrics and musical knowledge.

2. ‘Get Out’ will be previewed today on @ALT1053Radio

The Bay Area radio premiere of the new CHVRCHES track ‘Get Out’ will be previewed today (Wednesday 31 January) at 12:30 PM. This was confirmed on the radio station’s Twitter account.

3. A variant of this will be the album art

Fans of CHVRCHES on Facebook were offered an early peek at the album artwork by entering an automated chat with the official CHVRCHES Facebook page. We can see that the heart/cross hybrid image is a motif that was echoed earlier in the Instagram video – these recurring themes are symptomatic of the band, whose previous album names have been carefully selected lyrics from their songs.

4. Their sound will change – but it’s a musical growth and evolution

Due to the change in producer and self-proclaimed musical redirection, it is clear that we can expect some degree of evolution in CHVRCHES stereotypical genre. However, Mayberry says: “when I listen to the record, I feel like it’s the most pop stuff we’ve done and also the most aggressive and vulnerable at the same time. It was about really leaning into those moments — and also wanting there to be a real humanity and character to what we’re saying.” Doherty, in a separate interview, backs up this notion of building on what they already have, as he states: “we’re taking everything that we stand for and taking it to another level“.

CHVRCHES are a unique, effervescent spark in the ’80s-synthpop genre and their music has always been the result of a coalescence of various influences. It is hard not to get swept up in the hype that is swelling as the result of social media teases and subliminal hints but I am sure their sonic revival will be explosive yet simultaneously stay true to their core. Let’s just say, I can’t wait to see what they can deliver.

Photo credit: taken from the Glasgowist

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