Chvrches’ next album Love Is Dead comes out in May, and in the promotional blitz leading up to release day, they’ve had the opportunity to perform some covers: They played The 1975’s “Somebody Else” last week, and now they’re back with another take on somebody else’s song. This time, it’s Beyonce’s “XO,” which they keep relatively stripped down with piano, acoustic guitar, some textural synths, and Mayberry’s vocals. The song was performed for iHeartRadio and Honda Stage’s Backstage video series.
Before the performance, the band describes their history with the song, and Martin Doherty says that the group has been circling “XO” for a while now:
“We have been talking about covering ‘XO’ by Beyonce for years. It’s one of those moments you don’t forget the first time you hear a song and it speaks to you on that level. ‘XO’ is kind of a moment like that for all of us. We were on tour, all of us losing our minds about this Beyonce tune that had just come into the world. We tried it a few times. We tried it with big production and it always seemed somehow wrong or somehow inferior… I mean, she’s obviously an untouchable vocalist.”
Then Lauren Mayberry chimes in and says with a smile, “For people watching, I’m aware that I don’t sound like Beyonce. I can’t sing like Beyonce.”
Mayberry is, of course, a wonderful singer in her own right, so watch her and the rest of Chvrches take on Beyonce’s “XO” above.
