Robert Smith was “really hands-on” and “technical” with his part on Chvrches’ ‘How Not To Drown’.
The Scottish synth-pop trio – comprising Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, and Martin Doherty – teamed up with The Cure legend on the track on their latest studio album, ‘Screen Violence, and were surprised that the music icon gave a “s***” about how the collaboration would end up.
Speaking to musicfeeds.com.au, Lauren said: “It was all on email until actually the song was out and we were talking about it. Then the first time we all met was just before a Zoom call with, I don’t know what it was, maybe Apple Music or something like that. But the exchanges were surprising in that he is like super, super detailed and really technical. I don’t know why, but I assumed he would just be like, ‘OK, here’s my stuff, do with it what you want and hope for the best.’ But he was really hands-on with every aspect of how the mix ended up being – and we loved that because that’s exactly how we are as musicians as well. We loved that somebody with his stature and legendary status would actually give a s*** about this sort of collaboration in the way that he did (laughs). So that was surprising. It wasn’t surprising that he was an absolutely lovely man. Very funny.”
Meanwhile, Lauren recently admitted she welcomed being removed from the “b******* of the music industry” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 33-year-old singer admitted that though the theme of her work hasn’t changed because of the pandemic, it’s helped her to ignore outside influences.
She shared: “We had a lot of the ideas and the concepts before this year started and got a few weeks of writing in before everything shut down, so we kind of knew what we were getting on with.
“The theme of it didn’t necessarily change, but it evolved because of the circumstances of 2020. I think it was also helpful for us to be removed from the b******* of the music industry. Everybody says that you don’t think about that stuff when you’re making a record, but in practice you totally do. You might shut the door, but it’ll sneak in the window.
“Everyone always has advice and opinions about what you should do; everyone else knows best. But it was nice to go: ‘F*** it!’”
Despite this, Lauren admitted that making music amid the pandemic created its own challenges.
She added: “You have to fix your communication to such an intense degree, because you don’t get the things that you would normally be able to from somebody just being in a room.
“You have to be communicating at the highest level of efficiency and openness. That was long overdue. There was eight years of band baggage that needed to be unpacked and fixed, and so it was really beneficial for us to have that time apart.
“As a result, I think this is the most excited that anybody in the band has been about an album since the first record. With the first album there were no expectations on it.”