There is much magic in "Leave A Trace," the new video from Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches, and maybe the least of it is that the band appears to walk on water. More compelling than the water-walking, the dramatic, otherworldy soundstage sunset, and the perpetually billowing clouds is the video's anchor and star, frontwoman Lauren Mayberry.
Mayberry's vocals are as sweet and light as spun sugar, but her lyrics are substantial — and substantially angry and deliciously stinging in this big, bright pop song. It shares the same fundamental bait-and-switch as its video: What seems breezy and superficial is actually, very deliberately, a vehicle for something striking and undeniable.
Chvrches' new album,Every Open Eye, comes out Sept. 25 on Virgin/Glassnote.
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