CHVRCHES released the new, long-awaited single “He Said She Said” this past Monday along with the official music video. The video was directed by artist Scott Kiernan and was recorded almost entirely remotely.

CHRVCHES’ frontwoman Mayberry explained that the single is meant to call out the “balancing act” women are forced into to meet expectations set by a male-dominated society. She details that many of the pointed verse lyrics are based on things that have been said to her by men in her life, and that the song is her way of screaming her frustrations “into the void.”

The single follows the band’s synth-pop brand of music, using significant electronic instruments to emphasize the catchy, repeating chorus sung by Mayberry’s clear and pointed vocals.

In visualizing the song’s themes, the music video featured a revolving door as a metaphor for the “circular nature of a manipulative power dynamic, and the looping thoughts that go along with feeling trapped in it,” Kiernan explained. “But this door also represents a film developing tank here: it creates ‘a picture’ through agitation. That agitation can be malevolent, by some controlling, dominating force as in an abusive relationship, or it can be that of a protest – a positive force to reclaim one’s agency.”

“He Said She Said” is available to buy/stream on Glassnote Records here.

This single has been released three years following CHVRCHES’ third album Love is Dead. The band is made up of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty. Having been separated even across oceans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band has been able to maintain their musical connection both with this single and the release of ‘The Separate But Together Version’ for their track “Forever” in April of last year. Prior to their separation, they performed their single “Death Stranding” at the 2019 Game Awards, the song having been written for the video game.

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat