Lauren Mayberry drops new single, ‘Shame’
Chvrches lead singer Lauren Mayberry has shared her latest solo single,’ Shame’.
The second track that Mayberry has released under her own name, ‘Shame’ is a step away from the acoustic piano balladry of ‘Are You Awake?’ released earlier this year. Instead, Mayberry returns to the familiar area of synth-pop and electronica.
“I had the idea for a while of a song that had the tagline of ‘what a shame’, but in a sarcastic way,” Mayberry explains in a statement. “And the word ‘shame’ having a double meaning – the shame you feel and internalize, but what a shame you feel like that and can’t change it.”
Even though ‘Shame’ has the same electronic buzz and synthetic tools that Mayberry has used throughout her career, the song is distinct from her work with Chvrches. For one, the song is less aggressive with its keyboards and drum loops, preferring a funkier and looser arrangement that keeps Mayberry’s vocals loud and clear.
The song also seems more playful than most of Mayberry’s material, especially as Chvrches have transitioned into taking inspiration from the world of slasher films and the goth sensibilities of The Cure’s Robert Smith. Still, ‘Shame’ isn’t just a tossed-off lark from Mayberry. It’s got some real hard-hitting themes, mostly centred around the way women have to conform to a society that exploits them.
“Looking back on a lot of my life in terms of relationships, sexuality and my sense of self in the world, there is a lot of shame associated with that,” she added. “I came into my teens in the early-mid 2000s, a time period we now regard as a bit of a shithole in terms of gender and media messages (post Woodstock 99, the dawn of sex tape leaks, Girls Gone Wild, etc etc). What was deemed ‘attractive’ for women and girls was quite disturbing in hindsight, and that’s what went into my brain at a formative time, romanticizing bargain basement, local band boy versions of Reality Bites Ethan Hawke.”
“But now I know better, my wiring is still to find those things attractive on a cellular level,” she concludes. “I know not to want those things academically, but emotionally, romantically, sexually, I have been trained to find those things valuable and attractive. I know you are what you eat and it’s the taste that keeps me tame.”
Just because Mayberry is striking out on her own doesn’t mean that Chvrches is on hold. Concurrently with her solo singles, Mayberry is promoting the 10th anniversary of the band’s debut LP, The Bones of What You Believe. This cycle probably means that the other Chvrches guys wanted a bit of a break, or maybe Mayberry wanted to take the opportunity to see what she could do on her own. Either way, now it’s truly the Lauren Mayberry show, and that’s pretty cool to see.
Check out ‘Shame’ down below.
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