Songs like CHVRCHES: 11 tracks of bright, defiant synth-pop

Songs like CHVRCHES set a clear, high voice against glittering synthesizers and drums that hit like a rock band, with lyrics that turn hurt into defiance. The appeal is that contrast: a sweet sound carrying steely words. M83's "Midnight City," Purity Ring's "Fineshrine" and Metric's "Help I'm Alive" share it, each from a slightly different corner of synth-pop.

The Glasgow trio of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty broke out with "The Mother We Share" and "Recover," both on their debut album, The Bones of What You Believe (2013). Every Open Eye (2015) brought "Leave a Trace" and "Clearest Blue," Love Is Dead (2018) leaned toward bigger pop, and Screen Violence (2021) turned darker, with Robert Smith of the Cure joining on "How Not to Drown."

What does CHVRCHES sound like?

CHVRCHES songs usually run at a brisk, driving tempo, built on stacked analog-style synths, bright arpeggios and electronic drums with a heavy, booming snare. A signature touch is the chopped, pitched vocal snippet used as a hook, a little stutter of voice that works like another synth line. Choruses open wide, and the best of them, "Clearest Blue" above all, hold the tension through a long build before everything drops in at once.

Mayberry sings high and clean, with a Scottish lilt that stays audible, and she rarely oversings. That restraint matters because the lyrics are often sharp: refusing to be talked down to, walking away from someone who did damage, standing your ground. On Screen Violence the themes turn toward isolation and dread, with horror-film imagery. The mood is anthemic but bruised, songs to shout along to that are also, quietly, about getting through.

Songs like CHVRCHES: 11 picks

1. Yazoo, "Don't Go" (1982). Alison Moyet's big voice over Vince Clarke's bouncing synth riff. It's the early blueprint for a strong singer riding a busy, cheerful synth line.
2. Depeche Mode, "Enjoy the Silence" (1990). Dark, elegant synth-pop with a pulsing bass line and a melancholy hook. The moody side of CHVRCHES, especially on Screen Violence, belongs to this tradition.
3. Cocteau Twins, "Heaven or Las Vegas" (1990). Another Scottish band, with a soaring, shimmering female voice floating over layered sound. The airy vocal set against a wall of texture is a clear ancestor.
4. Metric, "Help I'm Alive" (2009). A Canadian band mixing synths and guitars under Emily Haines's cool, clipped vocal, with a pounding heartbeat rhythm. It has the same tension between fragility and force.
5. The Naked and Famous, "Young Blood" (2010). A New Zealand band with boy-girl vocals and a fizzing synth riff. Fans of the euphoric early CHVRCHES singles will hear the kinship right away.
6. M83, "Midnight City" (2011). A squealing synth hook, a huge drum sound and a saxophone finale. For the widescreen rush of "Never Ending Circles," this is the reference point.
7. Purity Ring, "Fineshrine" (2012). Megan James's small, sweet voice over heavy, low beats and twinkling synths. It shares the trick of turning chopped vocals into hooks.
8. Grimes, "Oblivion" (2012). A light, high vocal over a bubbling drum machine, sounding playful even as the lyric deals with fear. That gap between sound and subject is very CHVRCHES.
9. Paramore, "Hard Times" (2017). A rock band turning to bright, twitchy synth-pop, with a cheerful sound under a gloomy lyric. Listeners who like the Love Is Dead era will feel at home.
10. MUNA, "I Know a Place" (2017). The Los Angeles trio's soaring synth-pop song about a safe place to be yourself, sung as reassurance. It has the same mix of big chorus and protective heart.
11. Japanese Breakfast, "Be Sweet" (2021). Michelle Zauner's bright, 1980s-flavored synth-pop single from Jubilee, with a chorus that asks to be treated well. The newest pick and a sunny way in.

CHVRCHES make defiance sound like joy, and the songs that sit closest to them do the same.

Lyra Voss songs that fit

Lyra Voss is a Reykjavík synth-pop act whose debut album, Solstice Light, shares CHVRCHES's bright synth palette and their habit of turning personal struggle into a chorus.

1. Close match: Lyra Voss, "Starfall". Track three (2:50) turns a meteor shower into an image of new beginnings and closes on a short chant about being infinite and luminous. The euphoric, upward rush matches early CHVRCHES; the lyric is more cosmic and less confrontational than Mayberry's.
2. Close match: Lyra Voss, "Crystal Wire". Track six imagines a body wired to the northern sky, moving from cold to warmth as something frozen cracks open, with a chorus that asks only to be taken higher. The electric imagery and the build toward release fit well; the setting is wintry rather than urban.
3. Partial match: Lyra Voss, "Prism". One of the briskest songs on the album at 2:33, it treats identity as white light splitting into a thousand shades and mending its cracks. The theme of holding together after a break suits CHVRCHES fans; the tone is gentler, more healing than defiant.

More artists like CHVRCHES

Past these eleven songs, the names most often grouped with CHVRCHES include Purity Ring, Metric, Phantogram, Little Boots, Lights, Bleachers and later Paramore, along with 1980s synth acts such as Depeche Mode, Yazoo and the Human League.

Pick by era. If The Bones of What You Believe is your favorite, go to Purity Ring and The Naked and Famous. If Every Open Eye and Love Is Dead are the ones you replay, Paramore and MUNA share their big pop choruses. For the darker Screen Violence mood, Depeche Mode and Cocteau Twins are the deeper cut.

Where to start

Begin with "Don't Go" and "Enjoy the Silence" for the roots, play "Midnight City" and "Fineshrine" for the peers, then finish with "I Know a Place," "Be Sweet" and Lyra Voss's "Starfall". Our synth-pop guide covers the wider history, and if you came to CHVRCHES for the emotional lyrics, try our songs like Lorde list.

Key takeaways

1. Songs like CHVRCHES pair a clear, high vocal with bright, layered synths and hard-hitting drums.
2. Yazoo's "Don't Go" (1982) and Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" (1990) are the clearest precedents.
3. Purity Ring, Grimes and M83 are close peers; MUNA and Japanese Breakfast carry the sound forward.
4. Lyra Voss's "Starfall," "Crystal Wire" and "Prism" from Solstice Light (2026) share the euphoric lift, with wintry, cosmic imagery in place of confrontation.

CHVRCHES proved a synth-pop band could be sparkly and furious at once. The songs that sit best beside them keep both halves.

FAQ

What genre is CHVRCHES?

CHVRCHES are a synth-pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. Their music combines electronic pop production with anthemic, rock-sized choruses.

What artists are similar to CHVRCHES?

Purity Ring, Metric, M83, Grimes, Phantogram and MUNA are among the closest. Depeche Mode and Yazoo are earlier acts in the same synth-pop tradition.

What CHVRCHES song should I start with?

"The Mother We Share" from The Bones of What You Believe (2013) is the usual entry point. "Clearest Blue" from Every Open Eye (2015) shows their bigger, slow-building side.

Who is Lyra Voss?

Lyra Voss is a McCandless Records electropop and synth-pop act from Reykjavík, Iceland, whose debut album, Solstice Light, came out in May 2026. Its sixteen tracks are built around the longest day and the longest night of the year.