At the beginning of December Lauren Mayberry took her first full step into a promising solo career with her debut album Vicious Creature. Since CHVRCHES’s last release in 2021, the band by which the lead singer gained notoriety both began a hiatus and signed to a new record label. In this transition period Mayberry found time to reflect on her creative process as well as what she wants to get out of being an artist. Having spent most of her twenties in a cycle of recording and touring, the new album shows a more personal songwriting process.
The entire project is reminiscent of the self-awareness present in the most recent releases of Charli xcx and Chappell Roan. Fittingly, the opening track “Something In The Air” is a gleaming acceptance of one’s past self. Over a collection of uplifting synths and an electronic drum set, frustration about professional success and internal satisfaction not being one in the same is expressed. The accompanying pop vocals bring the sound to most closely identify with the indie genre and set up the rest of the album for Mayberry to specify what she didn’t understand as a twenty-something year old emerging into the public spotlight.
The next several tracks explore the singer-songwriter’s repeated encounters with the common shortfalls of men. At the forefront of a hard kick drum and the howling of a wolf Mayberry sings “Oh, what a man will say just to get his way / Always crying wolf so I’m sad to say.” The cheerful music placed next to these lyrics exacerbates the irony of a man saying he can change himself only to continue hurting those he cares about in a new way. While an important subject, she is unable to express these ideas in a way that is new. Because of the recycled presentation, even those who want to empathize will lose their motivation to do so.
The most memorable and energetic track is without a doubt Punch Drunk. An electric bass with a thick tone introduces the sounds of the rest of the album to rock guitar and textured percussion. Songs like this one and “Sorry, Etc” have a punk sound that are great on their own, but when put in the context of the entire track list, it feels like a parent picking favorites. Unfortunately, whenever that particular punchiness is attained, the emotional depth seen elsewhere is completely thrown out the window.
For those who will find this album through their previous fondness for CHVRCHES, there are distinct differences in the sound that will either be perceived as more intimate or less vivacious. Tracks, other than the aforementioned outliers, have two or three instruments at the forefront with the synths and other electronica elements of Mayberry’s other band primarily providing ambiance. These elements combined with the typical in-your-face pop processing of her vocals are what give CHVRCHES its edge. However, this new solo album has less to grab onto. There is definitely an audience for this music. Unfortunate to Mayberry, that audience overlaps with Fiona Apple and Mitski, artists whose narrative and aesthetic are clearly defined.
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