The Fashionably Late Top 60 of 2013: #8 - CHVRCHES

When it comes to year-end lists, y'all know I don't mess around. I don't post my picks from the previous year for weeks after the next year has started. In 2013 there was a bounty of music that entered the world that made me deliriously happy to be blessed with the sense of sound. So I have pondered, marinated, and contemplated for weeks. Music from 2013 has been digested for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and yes, even dessert). And now, friends, it's time. Time to share with you what I consider the cream of one heck of a crop indeed. You might see things omitted here that you think should be on a Best Of list. This list isn't what I think you want to read. This list is what I feel about last year. These are records and songs that really mattered to me for one reason of another. If it's not here, I either didn't spend enough time with it or just didn't love it quite enough. A big, big thank you to all of the artists who created the music on this list, the music that I fell in love with last year.

WHO: CHVRCHES

WHAT: The Bones Of What You Believe

WHEN: September 2013

WHERE: Glassnote

WHY: If Scottish synthpop powerhouse CHVRCHES had existed when John Hughes was making the classic Brat Pack flicks “The Breakfast Club,” “Pretty In Pink,” and “Sixteen Candles,” I’m pretty sure he would have included them in one or perhaps all. The Bones Of What You Believe is a firecracker of a record, deceptively sweet amidst a sweep of synths and boy-girl vocals that sound chirpier than the lyrics they sing. At times confrontational, at times coaxing, the songs delve into the ambiguity of life and love in the myriad shades of gray between the black and the white, maintaining a level of exuberant effervescence throughout.

MY JAMS: “We Sink” “Tether” “Lies” “Recover” “Night Sky” “Lungs” “By The Throat” “You Caught The Light”







[posted 3.19.14]