A CHVRCHES marriage of pop and indie

LGHTNNG‘s EP is set to drop over the next few months, and that band have luckily treated us to a gem in the build up to that moment. The Netherlands-based electropoppers are on top form with Sharks, marrying a chugging synthline with sparing indie-jangle guitars and strong vocals.

Sharks is set to a very traditionally pop musical form, using a formulaic rise and fall approach to deliveries that gels well with the hook-heavy electropop sound. That’s why it’s such an interesting track. On the surface, it’s just a very enjoyable single. But when it’s dissected you uncover layers of mainstream pop fuel.

When you set aside the obvious CHVRCHES feel of the sound and the structure itself, the guitar is a clear giveaway to the poppy sound. It equally channels most indie bands of the last thirty years and the recently revived funk-twanged tones that have featured on a lot of chart-toppers in the last couple of years. But nothing feels forced, and ‘Sharks’ flows smoothly and swimmingly.