Albums of the Year for 2016: Every Eye Open (Extended Edition) - Chvrches

Every Eye Open (Extended Edition) - Chvrches

Virgin

Produced by Chvrches

Released 29th July 2016

The original release in July 2015 charted

UK Chart #4

US Chart #8

Scottish Album Chart #1

 

(Special Deluxe Version Released in 2015)

The following Links are Promos and Live Versions

 1 Never Ending Circles   
2 Leave A Trace   
3 Keep You On My Side   
4 Make Them Gold   
5 Clearest Blue   
6 High Enough To Carry You Over   
7 Empty Threat   
8 Down Side Of Me   
9 Playing Dead   
10 Bury It   
11 Afterglow   
Bonus Tracks
12 Get Away   
13 Follow You   
14 Bow Down

Other Bonus Tracks Not included in the Playlist above but added to the Extended Edition released in 2016

 15 Warning Call (Theme From Mirror's Edge Catalyst)

    
16 Bury It (Feat. Hayley Williams Of Paramore)

  

  
17 Leave A Trace (Four Tet Remix)    
18 Empty Threat (Big Wild Remix)    
19 Clearest Blue (Gryffin Remix)

Some of these Remixes originally appeared on a Record Store Day 12" released on 16th April 2016

A1 Leave A Trace (Four Tet Remix)    
A2 Empty Threat (Whyt Noyz Remix)    
A3 Clearest Blue (Gryffin Remix)    
B1 Leave A Trace (Goldroom Remix)    
B2 Empty Threat (Big Wild Remix)    
B3 Clearest Blue (KDA Remix)

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With my love for guitar driven rock and roll Every Eye Open by Chvrches is not an album anyone would expect me of all people to be listening to!

I should say by right this wouldn't qualify for one of my Albums of the Year for 2016 as it was originally released in September 2015 but due to a technical glitch and the reissue of an Extended Edition of the album back in July it does actually qualify for this year!

Now, normally I have to say that I loathe it when a record company does something like this not even a year after its original release and then release an Extended Version (so many labels seem to do it these days and rarely does anyone take them to task!). 

On this occasion though I'm letting go of my loathing of such craftiness because I probably wouldn't have taken much notice of the album had I not stumbled upon a live video of Chvrches (from sometime last year) during the summer and heard the song Bury It featuring Haley Williams of Paramore. After that first listen the song seemed to pop up in many different places during the summer of this year and I found myself casually tapping a toe or two along with it and then there was a gentle bob of the head followed by swaying (yes, swaying! Can you believe that!).

Investigating further led me to the album itself and it's an infectious little thing that caught me off guard. I don't really know enough about this particular style of music to say whether it is brilliant or down right rubbish but I do know that Every Eye Open (Extended Edition) caused me a lot of joy in 2016.

Now I had to find out a little more about them. I had seen their name around and kind of avoided them when they were on coverage of festivals on the TV because I assumed they would not be kind of thing that delighted me. 

The thing that amazed me about the group was that hail from Glasgow and that they have been on the go since 2011 and performed their debut gig at The Artschool in Glasgow 5th July 2012. They don't sound very "Scottish" - whatever that's meant to sound like!

Lauren Mayberry (vocalist of Chvrches) wrote a very good piece for The Guardian a couple of years back (this was something I discovered in the summer whilst finding out more about them) where she spoke about having to deal with hate and sexism via the internet. It's an absolute shocker that people could post such vile abuse about anyone and often without consequence!

I've been drumming up the courage to go and listen to their earlier album The Bones of What You Believe In - after all the sight of a 53 year old man swaying to the angelic sound of electronic pop is something you maybe do not need to see!