CHVRCHES – Every Open Eye Review
CHVRCHES – Every Open Eye
2015 – Glassnote – 10/12/15
By: Jake Sternberg
CHVRCHES are back with their sophomore LP, and with every second album release there will always be skepticism to see where a band can go with the pressure from fans and their record label. With this LP you can certainly sense a sort of urgency with the release. While some songs are hitting the mark of the direction I was hoping the group was heading, there were just SO many tracks that seemed to carry little emotional or musical direction for the band, which could be a result of rushing this album to its completion. Where the heavy pop production remains consistently great, the hooks and are not quite as hard hitting as some of the better moments on their debut. Every Open Eye is a little more complete thematically then their first album; however, the album remains a little too optimistic at times in my opinion. Where the singles provide the anthemic sort of synth-pop that has brought the band success in the past, some of the non-singles kind of just sit as wanna-be singles, given the fact that they are even written about the same topics as the singles. The actual album also ends on a kind of depressing moment (taking the bonus tracks out of consideration), we see a once overly optimistic Lauren Mayberry, saying she tried her best but “she’s given up all she can” and just lets the album come an end after ALL that extensive positivity/adversity ringing through the 10/11ths of the album. Not sure what to think of the ending, but certainly leaves me scratching my chin over what exactly the band was going for.
Picks: 2, 5, 8
