AFTER releasing their debut album The Bones of What You Believe, CHVRCHES quickly established themselves as one of Scotland’s most exciting bands. More than this though, they sparked a surge in the popularity of synth-pop and now a host of other Glaswegian bands drop into that category. Following close on CHVRCHES heels are Prides, and ranging further are bands like Apache Darling and Happy Meals.

So with a debut album that re-inspired a scene and international acclaim, CHVRCHES had big boots to fill with their follow-up. This fact didn’t escape the bands attention either, all three of them very much aware of the hype surrounding the release. Thankfully they dealt with it, and the result is Every Open Eye.

‘Leave a Trace’ was the first preview of the album, and it was a good choice too as it is perhaps the strongest track on the album. The biting lyrics are punctuated by the usual shimmering synths and claps, with the song bemoaning a bad relationship with some snide remarks – “I will show restraint, just like we said we should. You think I’ll apologise for things I left behind, but you got it wrong.”

Generally though this song is against the nature of the album, which is a lot calmer than the previous. The anger has dissipated somewhat, and there is a more positive feel running through it. In The Bones of What You Believe there were some cut-throat lines like in the track ‘We Sink’ – “So tired, so easy I Bleed out, what the fuck were you thinking?” Or in the song ‘Gun’ – “Hide, hide, I have burned your bridges. I will be a gun, and it’s you I’ll come for.”

Perhaps this is intentional so as to appeal to a wider audience, or perhaps the trio are in a better place and this reflects their true feelings. Certainly they have never been a band to hide behind falsities, taking the indie-DIY route to success that so many pop bands bypass.

Further into the album they demonstrate the true greatness of the band. ‘Clearest Blue’ doesn’t have any earth shattering lyrics, but the talent is making something with layers appear so utterly simple. It is fitting creativity and originality inside a basic three minute pop song.

And just when the dazzle of the synths becomes too much they throw in some variation. ‘Keep You on My Side’, has more urgency to it, with the synths propelling the song along and throwing it into the chorus, which follows its rhythmic haste. ‘Down Side of Me’ is more reflective, and has a more distant feel to it, with less of the claps and pops, and a more gravely tone.

Album closer ‘Afterglow’ also mixes things up and brings things down a step. It is a ‘walking through a new magical world’ sort of ballad that you could imagine featuring in a Disney movie.

All in all, CHVRCHES are making pop how it should be made; simple, catchy, enjoyable, danceable, light, completely new and self-made. It isn’t much of an evolution from their debut, more a continuation. But it is a sound that uniquely belongs to CHVRCHES, still the absolute kings of synth-pop.