CD of The Week

Few bands become as big of a deal based on as small an output as Glasgow's CHVRCHES have over the past year. With a scant handful of songs, the trio have rocketed from blog buzz to festival fame and left listeners waiting with baited breath for their debut full-length. Now they finally show their Bones of What You Believe. And it's a sublime slice of synthpop that, while not always surprising, is endlessly satisfying.

Opening with their signature single "The Mother We Share," the album sets the template for anyone that might have been in a cave with their ears plugged for the past twelve months: crystalline keyboard lines from Iain Cook and Martin Doherty as well as Lauren Mayberry's alternately fragile and formidable vocals. It's as winning a song as any that have obtained ubiquity in recent memory, and it only gains power and impact on its millionth spin.

This formula has since become more familiar with subsequent teasers "Recover" and "Gun" (both excellent), and the band does little to stretch it across their remaining songs. But it's a hell of a formula, and the fresh fruit it bares on the rest of the record is every bit as sweet and savory as we've come to expect. "We Sink" and "Science/Visions" ripple and rivet with sharp synth textures and lyrics that probably have Robyn scrambling to record Body Talk Part 4 as we speak. Meanwhile, "Lungs" is both a softer and spikier side of "The Mother We Share's" same coin. Then there's the titanic "Tether," an introspective stunner that begins with brooding before caving into electro euphoria worthy of M83.

CHVRCHES aren't quite as perfect as we'd hoped yet. Doherty's turns at the mic, while capable, lack Mayberry's character and charm. That said, they're closer than you think. It's telling that the refrain of "Tether" finds Mayberry feeling "incapable of seeing the end," as their career trajectory won't be going anywhere but up if this instant greatest hits set is any indication. Here are some new bones with plenty of meat on them.