Earlier today SXSW announced the first wave of keynote and featured speakers for their annual conference and festivals. Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES and Shirley Manson of Garbage will lead a keynote conversation on music. These two Scottish trailblazers in the music industry don’t hold back when they speak their minds. This is one discussion you don’t want to miss!

The SXSW Conference and Festivals takes place in Austin, Texas from March 8-17, 2019. More information about their keynote and featured speakers can be found at SXSW.

Yesterday EA Sports revealed special edition artist kits and the soundtrack for FIFA 19. Pre-order the champions or ultimate editions of the game and receive five special edition kits including one from CHVRCHES! FIFA 19 is due out September 28, 2018 on PS4, XBOX ONE and Origin.

After hearing “Miracle” and “Never Say Die” during World Cup coverage we expected to see the band on the FIFA 19 soundtrack but sadly they were not part of it this year. CHVRCHES were previously featured on the FIFA 14 soundtrack with the song “We Sink”.

CHVRCHES recently became the latest sponsor for Whitburn Junior FC and featured on their new away strip. More news on this coming soon!

CHVRCHES are the newest sponsor of Whitburn Junior FC and now featured on the new away strip. Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty are always full of heartwarming surprises with their contributions to help others. Take a look at those sharp jerseys and good luck to Whitburn Junior FC this season!

Some dreams do come true. CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry grew up listening to the band Death Cab for Cutie and today she is featured on their new album Thank You for Today with some beautiful backing vocals on the track “Northern Lights”. Mayberry previously made a few guests appearances on stage to sing “Brothers on a Hotel Bed” with Death Cab for Cutie.

Give “Northern Lights” a listen below. Thank You for Today is now available worldwide on you favorite streaming services https://lnk.to/ThankYouforToday

I have loved @dcfc since I was just a lil pup. Their music has broken my heart and stuck it back together many times. Being a tiny part of this record was a real honour. Northern Lights, Thank You For Today, out now. pic.twitter.com/NgqglcizdZ

— Lauren Mayberry (@laurenevemay) August 17, 2018

A few weeks ago, CHVRCHES teased on their social channels that they had just recorded something secret and today it has been revealed as a new single called “Out Of My Head” featuring J-Pop sensation Kom_I of the band Wednesday Campanella. A fun back and forth between Lauren Mayberry and Kom_I ensue in their native languages on this track. Give it a spin below and let us know what you think.

Earlier today CHVRCHES put on a stellar set at BBC’s Biggest Weekend in Swansea. All did not go as planned though when lead singer Lauren Mayberry accidentally dropped the F-bomb when speaking to the crowd. Quick to realize her mistake, Mayberry issued a sincere apology.

Being broadcast live in the UK, the BBC has fair warning to all performers, “Please Do Not Swear” but Mayberry was soon forgiven for her snafu. Watch her adorable reaction below.

Vinyl Me, Please have partnered with BMW’s Project Unfollow to release a limited edition gold colored 10-inch featuring two CHVRCHES tracks from their upcoming album Love Is Dead, and two songs that inspire them. This exclusive vinyl will be given to 7,000 random Vinyl Me, Please members with their May 2018 shipments.

Track List

Side A
I.   Never Say Die
II.  Get Out

Side B
I.   Come Through (The Regrettes)
II.  Heaven or Las Vegas (Cocteau Twins)

Click here to read a condensed interview with Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty of CHVRCHES or listen to the full podcast version below.

A few months ago, CHVRCHES’ lead singer Lauren Mayberry partook in a new project by fashion photographer Kevin Sinclair called Vestal. The outcome was a stunning photo shoot including a featured cover shot and an interview with Mayberry for the March 2018 manifesto issue. All photos by Kevin Sinclair, styled by Stacey Cunningham, hair by John Ruidant and makeup by Rebecca Alexander.

Vestal has been described as, “Not quite a magazine, nor exactly a book, Vestal is rather a hybrid object; a polyphonic work marching to the beat of ten chapters focused on Q&A’s. It is a kind of magazine with its own unique look & feel crafted by Kevin Sinclair. Vestal is setting our times to words and images. The present of Vestal is a time designed to last, explored and revisited. Like a collection of short stories or a beloved record we leave to one side, only to come back to it, time and again.”

Click here to read the interview with Mayberry. At the time of writing we don’t have any further information regarding a print edition that was once rumored a couple of months ago.

Earlier today a letter published by Amnesty International UK and signed by the likes of Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES, Dr. Helen Parkhurst, Caroline Lucas MP, Sophie Walker, Leomie Anderson and several other women’s right organizations, celebrities and activists who have called upon Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey to help combat violence and abuse against women on the social media platform.

An excerpt from the letter to Dorsey follows. Click here to read in full.

“Twitter is failing us. It’s a toxic place for many women; a place where too many of us feel unsafe. It’s a place where the trolls are winning and where violence and abuse against women is rife.

Every day on Twitter women are receiving misogynistic abuse and threats of physical and sexual violence.

Online trolls are using your platform to try and belittle, shame, intimidate, harass and silence us.

Our bodies, race, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, disabilities and opinions – our very identities - are the target of violence.”

Unfortunately, no stranger to online abuse, Mayberry has confronted these issues head-on several times in the past. In 2013 she wrote an op-ed for The Guardian in which she stated, “I will not accept online misogyny” and then in 2015 spoke to Channel 4 News about misogynist trolls after being the target of the 4chan community.

In this day and age, it’s quite sad that anyone has to be subjected to such abuse but it’s a reality that many face in the digital world in which we live these days. Awareness and discussion is a great starting point and we hope initiatives like this letter to Twitter will convince companies to be more proactive in providing a safer environment for their users.

Please visit www.amnesty.org.uk/toxictwitter to email Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey that he must clean up #ToxicTwitter.

Yesterday CHVRCHES announced they have become a patron for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Summer School for Girls Glasgow after hearing previous funding for the camp had fallen through. This summer camp will teach local girls aged 8-16 years how to rock out. Coming at just the right time, Girls Rock Glasgow said the sponsorship will enable them to move forward with plans and offer more places than ever before. The full announcement from CHVRCHES’ lead singer Lauren Mayberry can be read below.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Summer School for Girls Glasgow will take place from July 14-22, 2018 at Kinning Park Complex and Empire Studios. For more information regarding applications to attend or volunteering opportunities please visit Girls Rock Glasgow.

At the time of writing it has not been confirmed if the band will be appearing or teaching at the summer school however their currently listed concert schedule suggests they may be visiting.

We are excited to be supporting @girlsrockglasgow, a really valuable community project that will be teaching local girls how to rock out at their camp this summer. Growing up, I didn't know many other girls playing in bands. If I hadn't seen awesome and inspiring women in bands that I loved - Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Garbage, Sleater-Kinney - then it would never have occurred to me that maybe one day I could do that. I have hardly ever seen a female sound engineer in a venue, locally or internationally, and you hardly ever see women headlining festivals. Let's change that by helping Girls Rock Glasgow teach young women that they can be anything they want to be. Link to find out more in bio.

A post shared by CHVRCHES (@chvrches) on Apr 7, 2018 at 10:12am PDT