Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry Reveals Why She Went Solo: ‘Born Out of Things That I Couldn’t or Wouldn’t Write in the Band’

Lauren Mayberry announced in July that she would be stepping away from Chvrches to embark on her own solo career. While assuring fans the band wasn’t done forever, Mayberry also set off on her first solo tour in September across the U.S., Europe, and the U.K.

“I met Iain [Cook] and Martin [Doherty] when I was 23 — a little baby of a person, in hindsight. Looking back on what we’ve achieved together, so much of it doesn’t feel real or even possible,” she wrote in a statement at the time.

Now, in an interview with NME published Friday, the singer-songwriter shared more insight in what led to her decision to fly solo.

When discussing how she separated the material she was writing on her own as separate to the group, she told the outlet, “it was easy, because it was born out of things that I couldn’t or wouldn’t write in the band.”

“The worse writing sessions were when I went in with someone who didn’t really understand what I was talking about and we would just write a sort of shit Chvrches song,” she continued. “I was like, ‘This is a nice afternoon, but what’s the point in this?’ There’s already a universe where I can make that and I enjoy it. I don’t see why I would want to make the Tesco own brand version of that. These are musical and lyrical things that I don’t get to do in the band or don’t feel comfortable doing in the band.”

Mayberry further spoke about the constraints being part of a cohort had on her songwriting. “There would be lyrics or concepts that I had come up with over the last couple of years and then thought that I couldn’t do in a Chvrches song,” she explained. “These are things that I just need to say from my point of view. Obviously I’m the narrator in Chvrches, but you’re still speaking on behalf of a group.”

Last month, Mayberry dropped her debut solo single, the piano-led “Are You Awake?”