6/9 Lauren Mayberry - Crocodile Tears (First Performance!) @ 9:30 Club, Washington, DC 9/04/23

Lauren Mayberry’s first solo concert ever, of her first solo music ever!!!! LAUREN MAYBERRY, FRONTWOMAN of CHVRCHES, has released her debut solo single, “Are You Awake?” The piano-driven ballad was written with Tobias Jesso Jr. and Matthew Koma, who also produced the song. The track came about after a writing session between Mayberry and Jesso Jr. “I was thinking a lot about loneliness and homesickness, and as soon as Tobias started playing the chords, the lyrics and melody came to me really quickly,” Mayberry said in a statement. “I finished the song with my friend Matthew Koma, who really understood what I was trying to say.” She added, “I never really thought I’d write a piano ballad, or a solo album full stop, so life really is full of surprises. I am really looking forward to this chapter, and can’t wait for people to hear more of the music.” Mayberry announced her intention to release songs outside of Chvrches last month. In a reflective Instagram post the musician wrote, “For a long time, I couldn’t imagine ever doing anything outside of Chvrches. Since I was 15 years old, I have always, only, ever been in a band,” she wrote. “I always wanted so badly to belong somewhere — to be one of the boys, and to fit in. But as I sail/stumble through this era of my life (your 20s really do go by in a flash, kids), it has started to feel like there are things I want to write and say and do that need to be done on my own.” The singer will embark on a solo tour this fall with stops in the U.S., Europe, and the U.K. Despite the shift to a solo career, Mayberry has continued to work with Chvrches. An extended version of the band’s debut LP, The Bones of What You Believe, will arrive Oct. 13th via Glassnote Records. The group also shared a previously unreleased track, “Manhattan.” In August, Chvrches collaborated with Death Cab For Cutie on a remix of the band’s new single “An Arrow in the Wall.”