Glaswegian electro-pop band, Chvrches, have returned with a brand new track ‘He Said, She Said’, which premiered on Radio 1’s Future Sounds with Annie Mac yesterday.
Teasing the track with a series of cryptic images and video diary clips, Chvrches are finally back with a banger.
It’s been three years since Chvrches’ last album ‘Love is Dead’, but it was definitely worth the wait for this powerfully emotional single. ‘He Said She Said’ was recorded almost entirely remotely on both sides of the Atlantic, with the band members collaborating over Zoom and audio-sharing software.
The track features punchy beats layered with Lauren Mayberry’s piercing vocals cutting through the noise. The opening lyrics: “He said it’s all in your head” evoke a sense of lockdown introspection and the electronic glitchy production echo the feeling of mental unease.
In a statement, Mayberry describes ‘He Said She Said’ as her way of reckoning with accepting things she shouldn’t have. “All the verse lines are tongue-in-cheek or paraphrased versions of things that have actually been said to me by men in my life. Being a woman is fucking exhausting and it felt better to scream it into a pop song than scream it into the void. After the past year, I think we can all relate to feeling like we’re losing our minds.”
She adds: “I feel like I have spent a lot of my life (personally and professionally) performing the uncomfortable balancing act that is expected of women and it gets more confusing and exhausting the older I get. [People say] be successful but only in the way we want you to be. Speak up for yourself but not so loudly that you steal men’s thunder. Be attractive but only for the benefit of men, and certainly don’t be vain. Strive to be ‘The Hot Sad Girl’ but don’t actually be sad in a way that’s inconvenient for anyone. Be smart but not smart enough to ask for more than what you’re being given.”