Chvrches

As the boundary between insular indie music and stadium-sized synth-pop began to dissolve in the early 2010s, CHVRCHES were less interested in blurring that line than in catapulting themselves from one side of the divide to the other.

Though their collective CV included stints in melancholic indie-rock bands Aerogramme and The Twilight Sad, founding members Iain Cook and Martin Doherty joined forces in Glasgow in 2011 to make bright and buoyant electronic music together.

But their private studio project became a proper band when they invited Lauren Mayberry (at the time, the drummer for Cook’s production client Blue Sky Archives) to supplement Doherty’s lead vocals, and realized her radiant voice was too powerful to be relegated to a supporting role.