"The Mother We Share" is the debut single by Scottish

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

band

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish 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 deriving f ...

from their debut studio album, ''

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 ...

''. The song was re-released in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2013 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. The re-release peaked within the top 40 of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, reaching number 38 in September 2013. This made it their highest-charting single until 2019 when their collaboration with

Marshmello Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His songs "Silence", "Wolves", "Friends", " Happier", and " Alone" have been certified multi-platinum in several ...

's " Here With Me" reached number 9 on the

in April 2019.

Critical reception

Michael Cragg of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the song a positive review, while noting the mood differences between the song and a previous Chvrches track, "Lies". He wrote that the song "tempers the monster synth riffs in favour of twinkling keyboards, padded drum claps and a central lyric that lends the whole thing a slightly melancholic edge." Duncan Cooper of ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' praised Lauren Mayberry's vocals, comparing them to those of Megan James of

Purity Ring Purity rings (also known as promise rings, abstinence rings, or chastity rings) are rings worn as a sign of chastity. Since the 1990s, in the United States, Christian organizations, especially Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, promoting ...

. Ian Cohen of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' also similarly wrote that "Lauren Mayberry's neon sing-song vocals makes Chvrches stand out in a crowded field", while stating that the song's "melodic concision and extroversion goes beyond even that of recent adaptors like Purity Ring." He also compared the song to the works by the electronic music duo The Knife. Pitchfork ranked it number 191 on their list of the top 200 tracks of the 2010s so far in 2014. In 2013, the song won the

Popjustice £20 Music Prize The Popjustice £20 Music Prize, also known as the Popjustice Twenty Quid Prize, is an annual prize awarded by music website Popjustice to recognise the best British pop single of the previous year. The prize was conceived by Popjustice founder P ...

for best British pop song.

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by SJ Lee and featuring Alexandra Chelaru, was released on 5 August 2013. It alters between "a narrative of a lonely girl traversing her way through New York City" and flashy shots of Chvrches performing the track.

Remixes

Blood Diamonds remix

The song was remixed by electronic music producer

Blood Diamonds ''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mine ...

. The remix appeared on Chvrches' Soundcloud page. The remix received positive reviews from the critics. Jamie Milton of

This Is Fake DIY ''DIY'' is a United Kingdom-based music publication, in print and online. Its free print edition is released monthly with a physical circulation of 40,000 in UK venues, clubs and shops. DIY Magazine ''DIY'' was launched in 2002 by then-editor ...

wrote: "The original is spun into a giant, hyperactive beast of looped vocals and Lauren Mayberry being made to sound like she's shouting from several sides at once." Larry Fitzmaurice of

stated that the remix "takes the original's pulsing chorus and throws some crazy

drum'n'bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

noise behind it." Michelle Geslani of Consequence of Sound felt that Blood Diamond "literally injected it with 10x more energy," while noting "the chorus, which bursts with the hyperactive, glitchy thrills." She also called the song a "somewhat of a perfect personification of the countdown to the full-length."

A JD Twitch Optimo remix

The song was also remixed by Scottish DJ, JD Twitch of the music duo

Optimo Optimo Espacio ('Optimum Space') was a weekly Sunday-night club based in Glasgow, Scotland at the Sub Club on Jamaica Street, as well as a collective moniker for the night's resident DJ duo. Having run every week since it was founded in 1997, on ...

. It was eventually included in the single.

In popular culture

"The Mother We Share" was used in 2014

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

commercial. The song was covered by artists such as

Half Moon Run Half Moon Run is a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. The group is known for their heavy use of layered percussion, group vocal harmonies, and for playing multiple instruments during live performances. Career 2009–2013: Forma ...

Soak Soak may refer to: * Steeping * Bathing * Soakage (source of water), a source of water in Australian deserts * Soak dike, ditch or drain * Soak testing, a method of system testing in computing and electronics * Soak (singer), Irish singer-songwrit ...

and

Eefje de Visser Eefje de Visser (born 8 February 1986) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. She won the Grote Prijs van Nederland, a national competition for musicians, in 2009. She released her first album, ''De Koek'', in 2011, a breakthrough year in which she perfo ...

. The song was also used in the soundtrack of the 2014

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

Forza Horizon 2 ''Forza Horizon 2'' is a 2014 racing video game developed for Microsoft's Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles. It is the sequel to 2012's '' Forza Horizon'' and the seventh instalment in the ''Forza'' series. The Xbox One version of the game was ...

'', in the radio station Horizon Pulse.

Track listing

Personnel

Lauren Mayberry Lauren Eve Mayberry (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish singer, musician and songwriter. She is the vocalist and percussionist of the Scottish Pop music, pop band Chvrches. In Chvrches, Mayberry co-writes and co-produces the songs with Iain Cook ...

– lead vocals, additional synthesizers *

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 co ...

– synthesizers, guitar, bass, vocals *

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 tou ...

– synthesizers, samplers, vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mother We Share 2012 debut singles 2012 songs Chvrches songs Songs written by Iain Cook Songs written by Lauren Mayberry Songs written by Martin Doherty Glassnote Records singles Virgin Records singles