Screen Violence

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Screen Violence
A dark room with red light glowing, a TV is plugged in with a hand touching over window blinds.
Studio album by
Chvrches
Released27 August 2021 (2021-08-27)
Studio
  • Glasgow, Scotland
  • Los Angeles, United States
Genre
Length42:53
Label
ProducerChvrches
Chvrches chronology
Hansa Session EP
(2018) 		Screen Violence
(2021)
Singles from Screen Violence
  1. "He Said She Said"
    Released: 19 April 2021
  2. "How Not to Drown"
    Released: 2 June 2021
  3. "Good Girls"
    Released: 12 July 2021

Screen Violence is the fourth studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches. It was released on 27 August 2021 through EMI Records in the UK and Glassnote Records in the US.[2] It received positive reviews from critics.

Background and recording

[edit]

The album began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as ideas shared over video calls and audio-sharing programs. It was recorded between Glasgow and Los Angeles;[3] unlike their previous album Love Is Dead, the band did not utilise an external producer.[4]

Screen Violence has been described as a horror-themed album.[5][6] Frontwoman Lauren Mayberry said it felt "freeing initially" for it to start out as something "escapist" but that the lyrics ended up being "definitely still personal".[2] The title came from an idea for the name of the band, but was then adapted for the title of the album due to the theme of violence "on screen, by screens and through screens – with songs addressing feelings of loneliness, disillusionment and fear, among other emotions".[7] Martin Doherty called the album title "a bit more literal [than just a concept]. When we were making the record, it was like half of our lives were lived through screens."[7]

The single "How Not to Drown" evolved from a piano and drum demo recorded by Doherty and was written during a time when he was dealing with "crippling depression and anxiety".[8]

Screen Violence is also the first Chvrches studio album to not have a track where Martin Doherty provides the main vocals, though Doherty does sing the bridge on "Violent Delights".

Release and promotion

[edit]

Lead single "He Said She Said" was released on 19 April 2021.[9] The album was announced on June 2 alongside the second single, "How Not to Drown", a collaboration with Robert Smith, lead singer of the Cure.[7] The third single, "Good Girls", was released on July 12.[10]

On October 29, the band released a "director's cut" edition, containing three additional songs.[11] The album was promoted with a North American tour from November to December 2021.[12][13]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic81/100[14]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The A.V. ClubB+[15]
Exclaim!8/10[16]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[17]
Paste6.1/10[18]
Pitchfork7.2/10[5]
PopMatters8/10[1]
Slant Magazine[6]

The ratings aggregation website Metacritic described Screen Violence as having "universal acclaim".[14]

The composition was largely praised by reviewers. Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork praised the variety of sonic influences of the album.[5] Exclaim! reviewer Paul Blinov called the album's sound "lively and responsive to the mood", considering it more sonically ambitious than their previous work.[16] Contrastingly, The Line of Best Fit writer Marie Oleinik perceived it as sometimes bereft of "imagination and sonic diversity", stating that she failed to distinguish some tracks even after repeat listening.[17] Grant Sharples of Paste considered the album to be too similar to the band's past material, and its later portion as being made up of "forgettable material".[18] Whilst Olienik considered Robert Smith's vocals poorly incorporated in "How Not to Drown", Blinov considered it "excellent goth-pop", and AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares described it as "gloomy enough to honor the legacies of everyone involved".[17][16][4]

The album's thematic content was also widely commended, being described as "more mature" than Chvrches' previous work by The A.V. Club writer Alex McLevy.[15] Slant reviewer Eric Mason felt that the album "lives up to its title’s promise of anguish and suspicion of the Hollywood machine", considering it a return to form after Love Is Dead.[6] Phares described it as the band's most purposeful record to date,[4] and PopMatters praised the feminist themes in the lyrics, describing "Good Girls" as a "righteous rebuke of hypocrisy".[1]

Robert Smith and Chvrches won the Best Song By A UK Artist award for "How Not to Drown" at the NME Awards 2022.[19]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Iain Cook, Martin Doherty, and Lauren Mayberry; "How Not to Drown" co-written with Robert Smith.

Screen Violence track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Asking for a Friend"5:05
2."He Said She Said"3:09
3."California"4:08
4."Violent Delights"5:20
5."How Not to Drown" (with Robert Smith)5:31
6."Final Girl"4:30
7."Good Girls"3:19
8."Lullabies"3:45
9."Nightmares"4:34
10."Better If You Don't"3:32
Total length:42:53
Japanese edition (bonus track)[20]
No.TitleLength
11."How Not to Drown" (Robert Smith Remix)7:07
Screen Violence (Director's Cut) bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Killer"3:20
12."Screaming"3:34
13."Bitter End"4:38

Personnel

[edit]

Chvrches

  • Lauren Mayberry – vocals, keyboards, percussion, production
  • Iain Cook – keyboards, programming, guitar, bass, production, mixing
  • Martin Doherty – keyboards, programming, guitar, bass, additional vocals on "Violent Delights", production, mixing

Additional personnel

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Screen Violence
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 6
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 49
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 74
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[26] 71
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[27] 91
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 15
Irish Albums (OCC)[29] 4
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[30] 46
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[31] 65
Scottish Albums (OCC)[32] 1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[33] 52
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[35] 4
US Billboard 200[36] 31

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Piatkowski, Peter (23 August 2021). "Chvrches' 'Screen Violence' Reaches for the Heart, Mind, and Feet". PopMatters. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b Chelosky, Danielle (2 June 2021). "Chvrches Announce New Album 'Screen Violence,' Release Robert Smith Collaboration". Stereogum. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  3. ^ Ackroyd, Stephen (3 June 2021). "CHVRCHES have announced the details of their fourth studio album, 'Screen Violence'". Dork. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Phares, Heather (26 August 2021). "Screen Violence – Chvrches". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c St. Asaph, Katherine (2 September 2021). "Chvrches: Screen Violence Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Mason, Eric (23 August 2021). "Review: Chvrches's Screen Violence Transforms Hopelessness Into Inspiration". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Krol, Charlotte (2 June 2021). "Chvrches announce new album 'Screen Violence', share 'How Not To Drown' with The Cure's Robert Smith". NME. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  8. ^ Scarlett, Elizabeth (3 June 2021). "Chvrches announce new album Screen Violence and release new single with The Cure's Robert Smith". Louder. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  9. ^ Martoccio, Angie (19 April 2021). "Chvrches Return With 'He Said She Said'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  10. ^ Blistein, Jon (12 July 2021). "Chvrches Smash Phony Expectations on New Song 'Good Girls'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  11. ^ Triscari, Caleb (26 October 2021). "Chvrches announce 'Director's Cut' expanded edition of 'Screen Violence'". NME. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  12. ^ Benitez-Eves, Tina (3 June 2021). "Chvrches Reveal Fourth Album 'Screen Violence,' Share "How Not to Drown" Video with The Cure's Robert Smith". American Songwriter. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  13. ^ Gomez, Jade (2 June 2021). "CHVRCHES Announce Screen Violence, Share New Single and Tour Dates". Paste. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Screen Violence by Chvrches Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  15. ^ a b McLevy, Alex (27 August 2021). "Chvrches' album Screen Violence finds a newly mature band rediscovering its strengths". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  16. ^ a b c Blinov, Paul (24 August 2021). "CHVRCHES Find New Vitality in Analyzing Modern Society's 'Screen Violence'". Exclaim!. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  17. ^ a b c Oleinik, Marie (24 August 2021). "Chvrches settle confidently into their pop soundscapes on Screen Violence". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  18. ^ a b Sharples, Grant (23 August 2021). "CHVRCHES' Screen Violence Does Little to Refine or Evolve Their Sound". Paste. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  19. ^ Jones, Damian (2 March 2022). "CHVRCHES and The Cure's Robert Smith win Best Song By A UK Artist at the BandLab NME Awards 2022". NME. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  20. ^ "BEATINK.COM Cavalcade". Beatink.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  21. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Chvrches – Screen Violence" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  23. ^ "Ultratop.be – Chvrches – Screen Violence" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  24. ^ "Ultratop.be – Chvrches – Screen Violence" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  25. ^ "Chvrches Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  26. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 35.Týden 2021 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Chvrches – Screen Violence" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  28. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Chvrches – Screen Violence" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  30. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums 2021/09/01". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  31. ^ "チャーチズ" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  32. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  33. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Chvrches – Screen Violence". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  34. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Chvrches – Screen Violence". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  35. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  36. ^ "Chvrches Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 September 2021.