Lauren Mayberry, Glasgow review: 'power pop'

Lauren Mayberry, Barrowland, Glasgow ★★★★

“We love you Lauren” came the cry from Lauren Mayberry’s hometown crowd. “Are you related to me?” she fired back, only half-joking, her remark balancing her quick, sometimes wicked humour and a sliver of imposter syndrome. The Chvrches frontwoman is used to working far bigger rooms than this but this show clearly meant a great deal as she presented her solo album Vicious Creature in its entirety.

Mayberry is in a bold commercial frame of mind with her solo material, conjuring an Eighties power pop pastiche in opening number Crocodile Tears, accompanied by drummer Madi Vogt, who has played with ex-Sonic Youth frontwoman Kim Gordon, and singer and multi-instrumentalist Heather Nation, a veteran of Kate Bush more-than-tribute band Baby Bushka, who joined Mayberry on multi-tracked unison vocals, all the better to enhance the sleek sound.

Lauren Mayberry | Charlotte Patmore

Change Shapes was a catchy consideration of the way women have to bend personally, socially and culturally to circumstances. There was more tuneage where that came from, in the throbbing synth pop of Punch Drunk and anthemic chorus of Something in the Air, Mayberry’s caustic greeting to the new boss (same as the old boss).

Mayberry took a break from energetically working the floor to deliver glacial pop ballad Are You Awake? at the keyboard (her original instrument), reaching soaring soprano heights with her pure vocals. She followed this with a sonorous piano cover of The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony before ramping back up to the pert pop of A Work of Fiction. In sharp clamorous contrast to most of the set, cathartic synth punk set closer Sorry, Etc featured Mayberry pinballing around the stage.

There were distinct folky strains to encore piano ballad Oh Mother and, to close proceedings, she banged the drums, adding danceable layers to the big pop sound of Sunday Best.

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