Back in September of 2013, the debut studio album of Scottish pop trio Chvrches, The Bones of What You Believe, dropped and sent the world into a frenzied 80s synthpop revival. Although their early competition was from bands like M83 and the Knife with similar sonic themes, it was Chvrches who emerged on top and became instant festival darlings who have been the surprising inspiration on acts like Lorde and even Taylor Swift’s most recent effort, 1989, which was an attempt to capitalize on the pop sound that this Scottish trio does so well.
Although many bands play into the myth of the “sophomore curse” when trying to write and record the follow-up album to their big hit and reject everything that made them popular (see In Utero), Chvrches does the opposite. Instead of distancing themselves from the sound that first gained them their notoriety, they opt to expand upon their 80s dream, never seeming to doubt themselves or their decision to move forward for one beat.
The band’s attitude toward this so-called sophomore curse can best be represented in the lyrics of “Make Them Gold,” the album’s fourth track, “we will take the best parts of ourselves and make them gold.” This is the band’s subtle way of defending what it sure to be a highly dissected album that was one of the year’s most anticipated releases. The band will not give up the sound that made them popular, but instead make it stronger than it was before.
Every Open Eye is sonically brighter than their last effort, and while the dark undertones in frontwoman Lauren Mayberry’s lyrics are still present, they seem to get buried under shoulder-padded synth riffs. Even as she shockingly details in her lyrics the rape threats and overall misogynous comments that have been thrown her way for being a frontwoman of such a public band, there’s an insuppressible resilience about the way she delivers it, an almost buoyant taunt to those who threaten her that she will survive. Think Whitney Houston singing about sexism.
 Relationship woes seem to be the personal inspiration for much of the album’s tracks. Mayberry sings of her hope to reconcile with her muse in “Clearest Blue,” but in “Never Ending Circles” she seems apt to move on, singing about the difficulties to get closure when she’s ready for it. 
This is an attempt to return to the synthpop glory that made them popular, but it’s an album for the digital age where EDM influences are felt on every club-like riff and pulse. It’s freshly modern while still unmistakably nostalgic. Deep yet danceable. 
While I have to admit that I still find myself preferring to listen to The Bones of What You Believe, Every Open Eye doesn’t disappoint. It’s 42 minutes of capturing music that makes you wonder if the 21^st century 80s revival is better than the 80s were themselves.

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