page_title: Chvrches
section_title: 2012–2014: Breakthrough success, and The Bones of What You Believe
hierarchical_section_title: Chvrches / History / 2012–2014: Breakthrough success, and The Bones of What You Believe
caption_attribution_description: Chvrches live at HMV Forum in 2012 (Iain Cook on the right, Lauren Mayberry in center, Martin Doherty on the right)
context_page_description: Chvrches is a band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and unofficially for the past two years Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving from the synth-pop genre, Chvrches also incorporate indietronica, indie pop, and electronic dance into their sound.
  Two years after their formation, Chvrches released Recover EP in March 2013, which included hits "The Mother We Share" and "Recover". Their debut studio album, The Bones of What You Believe, was released on 20 September 2013, while the band was ranked fifth on the Sound of 2013 list by the BBC. Two years later, on 25 September 2015, the group released their second album, Every Open Eye. Their third album, Love Is Dead, was released on 25 May 2018.
context_section_description: Doherty noted how Chvrches began as a studio only project, saying: "There wasn't really any goal other than to put a song out on the internet and see what kind of response we got". On 11 May 2012, Chvrches posted its debut song "Lies" on the Neon Gold Records blog. Instead of a picture of the band members, the song was accompanied by a picture of nuns in masks, which added to the perceived religiosity of the Chvrches name. The response was almost immediate; "Lies" reached number one on the MP3 aggregate blog The Hype Machine, and similarly received constant airplay on SoundCloud and BBC Radio 1. The band members were amazed by the reaction to "Lies". "It was unbelievable, way beyond what we expected," said Doherty.
  Despite the popularity of "Lies", Chvrches had yet to perform a live show. There was a growing expectation that the band would eventually perform live, although the band members were anxious at the prospect. To curtail this fear, Chvrches played its first two live shows under the name Shark Week, before making its official debut at the Glasgow School of Art in July. When Chvrches began to attract A&R representatives, Mayberry was dismayed that most of them wanted to make her the central figure of the band; one representative called her the next Pixie Lott. From the beginning, the band's goal was to give equal treatment to all three members, and to not have any one person become the focal point. As Doherty stated: "We could have sold 200,000 more albums if we'd hidden Iain and I from view and put Lauren on the cover of every magazine. We ended up doing it in an indie band style. We broke through via word of mouth. It was about doing it in an honest, right way." This mentality meant that the band had to decline early offers for photo shoots and interviews that excluded Cook and Doherty.
  Chvrches had already recorded eight other songs by the time "Lies" was released, in case listeners wanted to hear more music. One of these songs, "The Mother We Share", was released on 5 November 2012 as the band's debut single. "The Mother We Share" was similarly well received by listeners, and was downloaded more than 32,000 times by September 2013. Around this time, Chvrches co-manager Campbell McNeil attempted to contact Glassnote Records founder Daniel Glass, and gave Glass copies of "Lies" and another song called "Recover". After traveling to the UK to see Chvrches live, Glass signed the band to a recording contract in January 2013. To promote Chvrches, managers McNeil and Danny Rogers launched a nonstop touring schedule which included several international performances. Two months after signing with Glassnote, Chvrches made its North American debut at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, where the band won a Grulke Prize for best non-American act.
  On 6 February 2013, Chvrches premiered the second single "Recover". It was followed by Recover EP, out on 25 March 2013 in the UK via Goodbye/Virgin and 26 March 2013 in the US via Glassnote. On 13 March 2013 Chvrches performed at SXSW. They also won the Inaugural Grulke Prize (for Developing Non-US Act) at SXSW.
  On 19 June 2013, Chvrches made their US TV debut performing "The Mother We Share" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. On 15 July 2013, they released the single "Gun". In July 2013 Chvrches supported Depeche Mode on four shows from The Delta Machine Tour 2013. In September 2013, they also performed "The Mother We Share" on Later... with Jools Holland.
  On 20 September 2013, the band released their debut studio album The Bones of What You Believe on Virgin Records. On the critical aggregator website Metacritic, the album received a score of 80, based on 39 reviews.
  On 30 September 2013, Mayberry penned an op-ed piece in The Guardian on what she perceived as sexist remarks directed towards her through the band's social media sites.
  Chvrches covered Bauhaus' song "'Bela Lugosi's Dead" for the ending credits of the film Vampire Academy. "The Mother We Share" was featured in the opening video for the 2014 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, on 23 July 2
caption: Chvrches performing in 2012
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