Chvrches have dropped the intricate new single ‘Overthinker’, and played it live for the first time at an intimate Glasgow gig, where they were joined by Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil. Check it out below.
The new single is the latest to be dropped from the group’s first album in nearly six years, ‘All The King’s Men’. Set to arrive on January 22, it will mark the the fifth album from Chvrches and their first since ‘Screen Violence’ dropped in 2021. Visit here to pre-order.
Around the time of the album announcement, the trio of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty dropped the single ‘Roses’, and now they have shared the second single from the upcoming album: ‘Overthinker’.
Throughout the song, the band take a much more inward-looking approach than in ‘Roses’, and shift from themes of societal pressures to navigating complicated family dynamics.
“Should I lie to you?/ Keep my thoughts from you?”, Mayberry sings, describing a relationship where the person you’re with is both “your shelter and your storm”.
“You ask after my friends, if I’m getting thinner/ Not sure how you raised such a chronic overthinker.”
The song arrives after Chvrches played a special intimate charity show at Assumption Studios in Glasgow last night (October 27). That space is a converted church where the album was recorded, and saw them play to just 100 fans.
Phones were not allowed for the gig, but the setlist from the night has appeared online. Throughout the 14-song set, Chvrches played eight new songs from the upcoming album for the first time, and also brought out Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro as a surprise guest.
New songs given their live debut included ‘Roses’ and ‘Overthinker’, as well as currently unreleased songs titled ‘Heaven/Hell’, ‘Three Out of Five’, ‘Friend of a Friend’, ‘Comedown Tomorrow’, and ‘Evil’. Simon Neil joined them for two more currently unreleased tracks, ‘Jamie’s Prayer’ and ‘Faith In Flying’, as well as for a rendition of Biffy Clyro’s ‘Machines’.
One more intimate gig is taking place in London tomorrow (October 29), although details remain tightly under wraps.
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As for ‘All The King’s Men’, the album was written over multiple intense three-week stints in Glasgow, where they embraced experimentation and explored the culture and history of Britain and Scotland.
The album will also feature the song ‘Conman’, which the synth-pop stars debuted during their set at Robert Smith’s Teenage Cancer Trust’s Royal Albert Hall gig series earlier this year.
Back in the summer, Chvrches hinted at a new album on the way, and Doherty and Scott later told that fans could expect it to be “the most fearless record” they have ever made.
Since their last album dropped, Mayberry released her debut solo LP ‘Vicious Creatures’ in December 2024. As for Doherty and Cook, the former joined forces with Chvrches drummer Jonny Scott to launch the rave-indebted project The Leaving earlier this year, while the latter teamed up with Scott Paterson formerly of Sons & Daughters in 2022 to launch the project Protection.
To accompany the announcement of the new album, the band have confirmed a full tour across the UK, Ireland and North America. Dates kick off in Philadelphia in February, and include stops in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and more over the following month. The tour then heads across the pond in April and May, and includes a headline show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on May 6. Visit here for tickets and here for a list of upcoming shows.