CHVRCHES Release 'How Not To Drown' Video Featuring Robert Smith

Yesterday CHVRCHES announced their highly anticipated fourth studio album Screen Violence arriving later this summer, alongside releasing the second single, "How Not To Drown," featuring one of their musical heroes, Robert Smith. They also announced they are returning to the stage with an extensive North American tour this Fall.

Today, the band and The Cure frontman have shared the Scott-Kiernan-directed video for the single.

The claustrophobic, film-noir imagery of the official video is a continuation of the aesthetic presented with the album's debut single "He Said She Said". Lead singer Lauren Mayberry explains, "We've been working with Scott on all the visual aspects of Screen Violence and this video is the second installment in a connected trilogy." "How Not To Drown" is a dark, piano driven song that is based on the concept of staying conscious when you drown, and the video reflects the anxiety and fear the lyrics invoke. The perfect harmony of Mayberry and Robert Smiths' vocals amplifies the urgency.

Screen Violence was recorded almost entirely remotely between Los Angeles and Glasgow, members Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty and Iain Cook self-produced and mixed the album via video calls and audio sharing programs to create something that is unique and special, but inherently CHVRCHES. The album will be released August 27, 2021 via EMI Records (UK) and Glassnote Records (US). Pre-order for Screen Violence is available.

Screen Violence was originally conceived as a name for the band. A decade later, and during a pandemic when the reality of screen violence has never been more pertinent, struggling to make the people you love feel more than the characters on a TV show, and experiencing a world of trauma as if it were another, CHVRCHES revived the term for their forthcoming album title. Narrating the theme of screen violence in three main forms - on screen, by screens and through screens - the album touches on feelings of loneliness, disillusionment, fear, heartbreak and regret.

"I think for me it was helpful to go into the process with the idea that I could write something escapist almost," Mayberry says of the album. "That felt freeing initially, to have concepts and stories to weave your own feelings and experiences through but in the end, all the lyrics were definitely still personal." While Martin Doherty adds, "To me, the screen aspect was a bit more literal. When we were making the record, it was like half of our lives were lived through screens. What began as a concept was now a lifeline."

The making of Screen Violence also marked a decade together for the band - a decade whose sound they have helped to create and define from their 2013 breakthrough The Bones of What You Believe and 2015's Every Open Eye, to their most recent 2018's Love is Dead.

Eager to get back out on the road where the band and their impressive stage production can truly connect with their fans, CHVRCHES are excited to announce an extensive North American tour beginning this November. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 11th at 10:00AM local time. Visit www.chvrch.es for more information.

Watch the new video.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

11/09/21 Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall

11/10 - 11/12/21 Austin, TX - ACL Live

11/14/21 Dallas, TX - South Side Ballroom

11/15/21 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom

11/17/21 Minneapolis, MN - Armory

11/18/21 Milwaukee, WI - The Riverside Theater

11/19/21 Chicago, IL - Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

11/20/21 Columbus, OH - Express Live!

11/22/21 Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE

11/23/21 Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre

11/26/21 New York, NY - Terminal 5

11/27/21 New York, NY - Terminal 5

11/30/21 Washington, DC - Anthem

12/01/21 Boston, MA - House of Blues

12/02/21 New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall

12/03/21 Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall

12/05/21 Cincinnati, OH - Ovation

12/06/21 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant

12/08/21 Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom

12/09/21 Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater

12/10/21 Salt Lake City, UT - Union

12/11/21 Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl

12/13/21 San Diego, CA - Observatory North Park

12/14/21 San Diego, CA - Observatory North Park

12/16/21 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

12/17/21 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium