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Oct 10, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Scarlett Casciello

Lauren Mayberry, singer with Scottish electro-pop trio CHVRCHES, has shared her second solo single, “Shame.” Listen to it below, followed by her current tour dates.

“Shame” follows her debut solo single, “Are You Awake?,” which was released in September and was one of our Songs of the Week.

Mayberry had this to say about the song in a press release: “I had the idea for a while of a song that had the tagline of ‘what a shame,’ but in a sarcastic way. And the word ‘shame’ having a double meaning—the shame you feel and internalize, but what a shame you feel like that and can’t change it.

“Looking back on a lot of my life in terms of relationships, sexuality and my sense of self in the world, there is a lot of shame associated with that. I came into my teens in the early-mid 2000s, a time period we now regard as a bit of a shithole in terms of gender and media messages (post Woodstock 99, the dawn of sex tape leaks, Girls Gone Wild, etc etc). What was deemed ‘attractive’ for women and girls was quite disturbing in hindsight, and that’s what went into my brain at a formative time, romanticizing bargain basement, local band boy versions of Reality Bites Ethan Hawke. But now I know better, my wiring is still to find those things attractive on a cellular level. I know not to want those things academically, but emotionally, romantically, sexually, I have been trained to find those things valuable and attractive.

“I know you are what you eat and it’s the taste that keeps me tame.”

Details of Mayberry’s solo album are still forthcoming.

CHVRCHES, meanwhile, recently announced a 10th anniversary reissue of their debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, and shared a previously unreleased song, “Manhattan,” from it. The Bones of What You Believe (10th Anniversary Special Edition) includes four previously unreleased songs and five live recordings. It’s due out October 13 via Glassnote.

CHVRCHES also features Martin Doherty and Iain Cook. The band recently remixed “An Arrow In the Wall,” a new song by Death Cab for Cutie.

In February, CHVRCHES shared a new song, “Over,” via a music video. “Over” is the first single for the band’s new label, Island Records, and was one of our Songs of the Week. They also performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

CHVRCHES are signed to Island in America and EMI in England. The band’s last album was 2021’s Screen Violence, which came out via Glassnote.

Mayberry was one of the artists on the cover of our 20th Anniversary Issue in which she was interviewed about Screen Violence. Buy the issue from us directly here.

CHVRCHES were on the cover of one of our print issues in 2015 and you can read the in-depth 8-page 5,600-word cover story feature on the band here. You can also read our bonus digital magazine Q&A with them here.

Lauren Mayberry Tour Dates:

10/11 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg Oz
10/12 - Berlin, DE - Lido
10/13 - Munich - Strom
10/15 - Paris, FR - La Maroquinerie
10/16 - Cologne, DE - Luxor
10/17 - Prague, CZ - Rock Cafe
10/19 - Vienna, AT - Flex
10/21 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F
10/22 - Milan, IT, - Magnolia
10/24 - Barcelona, ES - La Nau
10/25 - Madrid, ES - Sala Capernico

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