Chvrches, Somerset House - music review

The presence of touts on the Strand apparently offering to buy “any spare tickets for churches” must have confused those not au fait with a certain Scottish synth-pop band.

Rather than an ecclesiastical hot ticket, the sell-out show was in fact for Chvrches (pronounced “Churches”, the spelling ensuring fans find the Glasgow trio on Google and not premium loafers or God).

Singer Lauren Mayberry was, she told us, accosted by a tout trying to sell her a ticket to her own group’s biggest outdoor show in the capital. “I respect a man’s right to make a living but it’s a bit grubby, isn’t it?” she said.

Chvrches have made a stand against “grubby” during their debut album campaign. As well as declining to do interviews with The Sun because they disapprove of Page Three, Mayberry’s written a Guardian blog on confronting online misogyny and refused to ditch the blokes in the band for solo photo shoots.

This performance was clearly a group effort, with members swapping instruments and Martin Doherty emerging from behind his keyboard to sing and skip around during bleepy groove Under the Tide. It made a refreshing change from charisma-free electronic acts who rely on laptops.

Chvrches’ analogue synth sound was also a winner, especially on Lies, an obvious homage to Gary Numan.

However, the band didn’t quite seize their moment and, with only one album, it was all over just as Mayberry was hitting her stride.

Her high vocal with its soft Scottish burr was a pleasing counterpoint to the juddering electronics on Gun and Science/Vision.

As their performance settled, the perky electro-pop of Recover and The Mother We Share proved genuine crowd pleasers. And these Eighties-style tunes were complemented with blazing lights and starkly retro graphics.

Yet it was the more expansive songs that had you intrigued about the future of Chvrches. Iain Cook’s guitar clanged and groaned on Tether, while You Caught the Light was a magnificently moody encore.