''Vicious Creature'' is the debut solo studio album by Scottish singer and musician

Lauren Mayberry Lauren Eve Mayberry (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish musician who is the vocalist and percussionist of the Pop music, pop band CHVRCHES. In CHVRCHES, Mayberry co-writes and co-produces the songs with Iain Cook and Martin Doherty, and sings as ...

, released on 6 December 2024 by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

. After four albums as the lead singer of synth-pop band

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish synth-pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriv ...

since 2011, Mayberry announced in 2023 that she would be pursuing a solo project. Work on the album started in early 2022, with Mayberry citing

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

as influences. Lyrically, the album discusses mortality, societal pressure, personal growth, and sexism in the music industry. Mayberry co-wrote every song on the album, along with its producers Dan McDougall,

Matthew Koma Matthew Bair (born June 2, 1987), known professionally as Matthew Koma is an American singer, songwriter musician, DJ and record producer. Songs written or co-written by Koma include "Spectrum (song), Spectrum", "Find You (Zedd song), Find You" ...

, Ethan Gruska, and

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and contributed to five songs that pe ...

; additional songwriters include Tobias Jesso Jr.,

Caroline Pennell Caroline Ades Pennell, also known by her stage name Carol Ades, is an American singer and songwriter. She gained recognition as a contestant at the The Voice (U.S. season 5), fifth season of the United States version of the reality singing comp ...

, and

Griffin Goldsmith Dawes is an American folk rock band from Los Angeles, California, composed of brothers Taylor (guitars and vocals) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums). The band has been described as being influenced by the Laurel Canyon sound, found in such artists ...

. ''Vicious Creature'' has received favourable reviews from critics and was supported by five singles: "Are You Awake?", "Shame", "Change Shapes", "Something in the Air", and "Crocodile Tears".

Background

Mayberry has been the lead singer of

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

group

since 2011, and first considered a solo career following the band's third studio album, '' Love Is Dead'' (2018). The band's first two studio albums, ''

The Bones of What You Believe ''The Bones of What You Believe'' is the debut studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches, released on 20 September 2013 by Virgin Records and Goodbye Records. Recorded between 2011 and 2013 in Glasgow, the album was written, composed, and ...

'' (2013) and ''

Every Open Eye ''Every Open Eye'' is the second studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches. It was released on 25 September 2015 by Virgin EMI Records and Goodbye Records. Self-produced, it is the band's follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut albu ...

'' (2015), were both critical successes but reception to ''Love Is Dead'' was more mixed. Mayberry expressed feeling afraid that her band would not stay together, and was also worried that she had no other creative outlet, as bandmates

Iain Cook Iain Andrew Cook (born 2 November 1974) is a Scottish musician, composer, record producer, and member of Glasgow-based pop band Chvrches. He played guitar for the Scottish post-rock band Aereogramme until their breakup in 2007. Cook also com ...

and

Martin Doherty Martin Clifford Doherty (born 24 December 1982) is a Scottish musician, singer and record producer. He is a member of Glasgow-based pop band Chvrches, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Prior to forming Chvrches, Doherty was a tour ...

were both working with other artists. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

caused the band to work on a follow-up album remotely: 2021's ''

Screen Violence ''Screen Violence'' is the fourth studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches. It was released on 27 August 2021 through EMI Records in the UK and Glassnote Records in the US. Lead single " He Said She Said" was released on 19 April. The al ...

''. In early 2022, she told her bandmates that she wanted to work on a solo project. In July 2023, Mayberry announced she would be pursuing a solo career, and embarked on a solo tour of the US and Europe later that year, where she previewed her solo songs. Initial plans were for an album to be released in 2023, but it faced delays partly due to a restructuring at

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

and their licensing disagreement with

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. Writing for the album started in early 2022, and "Are You Awake?" was released as the first single on 1 September 2023. In an interview with ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', Mayberry revealed that her solo music was "born out of things that hecouldn't or wouldn't write in the band", including sentiments she felt as the group's only female member. In an interview with ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' in October 2024, Mayberry revealed that ''Vicious Creature'' was finished and was due for release later in the year. The album was announced on 29 October 2024 and released five weeks later on 6 December. Over 40 songs were written for the album, whose title is taken from a line in "A Work of Fiction".

Composition

''Vicious Creature'' comprises 12 songs with a variety of genres and influences. "Something in the Air" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

track that arose after a studio discussion about

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

; it was the penultimate song written for the album and has a similar sound to

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

and

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

. "Crocodile Tears", which was inspired by the musical theatre characters of

Velma Kelly Velma Kelly is one of the main characters in the successful 1975 Broadway musical ''Chicago''. Kelly is based on the character "Velma", who first appeared in the 1926 play, also called ''Chicago'', who was in-turn inspired by events in the life ...

(of ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'') and

Sally Bowles Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Pre ...

(of ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

''), samples the strings from "

Walking on Broken Glass "Walking on Broken Glass" is a 1992 single written and performed by Scottish singer Annie Lennox. It was released as the third single from her debut solo studio album, '' Diva'' (1992). Produced by Stephen Lipson, it was released on 10 August ...

" by

. "Shame", the album's second single, is an

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

song that discusses feelings of hypocrisy and schizophrenia. "Anywhere but Dancing" is a "guitar-country" song about a failed relationship, while "Punch Drunk" mixes

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

with new wave and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

. "Oh, Mother", a piano ballad about Mayberry's relationship with her mother, was inspired by an illness in the family and was the last song written for ''Vicious Creature''. "Sorry, Etc", a blend of

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

and

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

, and the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

"Change Shapes" are both songs that discuss sexism in the music industry; the latter was released as a single to coincide with

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

. "Mantra" is an

art pop Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theory, art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, film, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre dra ...

track while "A Work of Fiction" is a pop song backed by piano. "Sunday Best", inspired by

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

and "

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young", commonly known by the title "Wear Sunscreen", is an essay written as a hypothetical commencement speech by columnist Mary Schmich, originally published in June 1997 in the ''Chicago Tribune ...

" by

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries. He is regarded by ...

, is a song describing an

existential crisis Existential crises are inner conflicts characterized by the impression that life lacks meaning and confusion about one's personal identity. They are accompanied by anxiety and stress, often to such a degree that they disturb one's normal funct ...

over worrying about the death of one's parents. The start of the track is an homage to

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

's "

Praise You "Praise You" is a song by the English big beat musician Fatboy Slim. It was released as the third single from his second studio album, ''You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' (1998), on 4 January 1999. It reached number one in the United Kingdom and I ...

". "Are You Awake?" is a piano ballad inspired by being homesick and lonely.

Critical reception

Sam Walker-Smart of '' Clash'' praised Mayberry's ability to sound contemporary while being influenced by 1990s pop music.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians *

– vocals * Dan McDougall – piano, synthesisers (tracks 1, 4–6); electric guitar (1, 4, 5), bass (1, 5, 6); drum

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

, drums (1, 5); percussion, backing vocals (1); acoustic guitar (4) * Samuel Stewart –

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

(track 1), electric guitar (5) *

– drums (tracks 2, 3, 7–9, 12), background vocals (2), percussion (2) *

– programming (tracks 2, 7, 9), bass (2); keyboards, guitar (3, 8, 12) * Ethan Gruska – bass, drum programming, keyboards, percussion,

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, synthesisers (track 2); all instruments (10) * Paul Gallagher – bass (track 7) *

– drums, bass, piano, synthesisers,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

, percussion, strings (track 11) * Brad Goodall – additional keyboards (track 12) *

Taylor Goldsmith Taylor Dawes Goldsmith (born August 16, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He serves as the lead singer, guitarist, and chief songwriter of American folk rock band Dawes. Early life Goldsmith has a younger ...

– piano (track 12) Technical *

Gavin Lurssen Gavin Lurssen is an American mastering engineer. He owns Lurssen Mastering in Hollywood, California.mastering *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...

– mixing * Greg Kurstin –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(track 11) * Julian Burg – engineering (track 11) * Matt Tuggle – engineering (track 11) * Matthew Koma – string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

(track 12) * Samuel Stewart – additional recording and engineering (tracks 1, 5) * Paul Gallagher – additional recording and engineering (track 7) * Matt Wolach – mixing assistance * Kieran Beardmore – mixing assistance Visuals * Palice Studio – creative direction * Scarlett Casciello – photography * Aidan Cochrane – design

Charts

References

{{Reflist 2024 debut albums Albums produced by Greg Kurstin EMI Records albums Island Records albums Pop albums by Scottish artists