Screen Violence (studio album) by CHVRCHES

“Screen Violence” sees CHRVCHES shift from pop production to a less polished sound. Their style of synth pop now has the welcome addition of guitar. The guitar adds a roughness that adds to the darker elements. Despite embracing of the horror theme, the album never really feels harrowing. There are many homages and references to fear but it amounts to a milder anxiety. This is compounded by the lack of standout track. There are interesting concepts both musically and lyrically, but nothing impressive enough to fulfill the ambition.

I like it!!

This was a thoroughly enjoyable album and there seems to be a few more risks taken on this album than their previous work. While there still is the odd generic song that could and should have been cut, there is also a lot of great songs. Such as Good Girls and How Not To Drown where the Robert Smith feature works brilliantly. Then there is the vocal performance from Mayberry, which I absolutely adore and is the strongest part of the record. Even if your not a fan of their synth pop style you can still get joy out of the record by solely focusing on the vocal alone. Overall, it isn't their greatest album but there is still a lot to love and so well worth a listen.

Good album, the only thing that is lacking is standout tracks. But all of the songs are very good.