Lauren Mayberry has shared a new single called ‘Change Shapes’ – you can listen to it below.
Arriving today (March 8), the song marks the third solo release from the Chvrches frontwoman following 2023’s ‘Are You Awake?’ and ‘Shame’.
Explaining the idea behind the track, Mayberry said it delves into the idea of performance – whether in her band or presenting what her audience, peers and the music industry overall want her to be.
“How do I keep people happy enough that they’ll let me do the creative work that I want to? I feel quite fake and hypocritical sometimes because so much of the narrative around the band is ‘feminist,’ but my experience inside of it hasn’t been a lot of the time,” she wrote.
“I feel like I did all this work to make things function but when you DO adapt yourself in that way, it’s seen as manipulative, in order to get what you want.”
Over a pulsating synth line and snappy drums, Mayberry sings: “It’s exhausting trying so hard all the time/ Performative hypocrisy took over my mind/ I’m a doll inside a box/ With a ball and a chain/ I bend over backwards, tiptoe along every wire/ Guess I’m quite the actress, no one knows I’m a liar/ I’m preaching to the choir/ I’m a body for hire.”
‘Change’ is accompanied by an official lyric video – tune in here:
Mayberry first shared details of her “fun, freaky, sad, weird [and] joyful” solo material last July before heading out on tour in North America, the UK and Europe in the autumn. She showcased numerous unreleased tracks at the gigs, and covered the likes of Madonna, Depeche Mode, The 1975 and Texas.
Speaking to NME last October, Mayberry discussed the “freedom” of writing music from a purely female perspective away from Chvrches, and what to expect from her yet-to-be-announced debut album.
“Now when I think about the aesthetic, a lot of stuff on the moodboard is cabaret, Fiona Apple or PJ Harvey. I love that PJ Harvey always uses her physical self so much as part of the art,” she said.
“For me, it feels easier to pull together themes, concepts and narratives because that’s what’s driving the conversation more in this space.”
Earlier this week, Mayberry was announced as one of the performers for The Great Escape 2024 in Brighton.