After gaining acclaim for their first two self-produced albums - The Bones of What You Believe (2013) and Every Open Eye (2015) - Scottish synth-pop trio Chvrches have revealed a new approach for their upcoming third album (while emulating Taylor Swift and wiping out all of their previous social media posts). On 31st January, they revealed their new song “Get Out”, the first glimpse of their work with Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Beck, Sia). As lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry promised in her recent interview with BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, the song’s production is “aggressively pop”: deafening handclaps, bright synths, and a repetitive hook: ‘Can we get out, get out/ Get, get, get out/ Get, get, get out of here?’
The song may be sonically slick and unmistakably anthemic in spirit, but Mayberry manages to squeeze in some lyrical ambivalence in the mix. Her soprano describes an abstract sense of dissatisfaction in the verses (‘Reflections you used to see/Never look alike to me’; ‘Good intentions, never good enough’) before arriving at the redemptive possibility of breaking free from the rut: ‘So do you want to turn it around?/ And do you want to show me how?/ You are a kaleidoscope’.
Mayberry makes no specific references to any of the issues plaguing our chaotic world today, but the song appears to negotiate with our contemporary existential woes on its own terms. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, she described the dualistic worldview that inspired their recent work in the recording studio: “I was looking at the world and realizing that we are both the best and the worst — humanity does all of this to itself. [The album] is about questioning why we are where we are and how do we reconcile with that.”
To keep with this theme, “Get Out” was accompanied by a preview music video that featured nine boxes of gritty security-styled footage. Mayberry can be seen drawing a heart on a grimy bathroom mirror with her lipstick and then crossing it out. Matt Berninger (The National) can be seen putting up fliers with the words “Friend Or Foe” on a lamppost. Kurstin is briefly seen working in his studio. The phone number 1-800-674-3364 also makes an appearance. If you call it, you can hear Mayberry reading the following verses:
“I’ve got no more time to hear what you think about me, because all of your words are so cold, so callous, so clean.
I’ve got no more time to hear who you think we should blame, because all of your words are so vile, so vicious, so vain.”
