Robert Smith’s RAH Week: How Chvrches’ ‘Conman’ Recast a Charity Run — and What It Reveals (5 Takeaways)
Last night at Royal Albert Hall, in a set curated by robert’s Teenage Cancer Trust series, Chvrches unveiled a darker, heavier direction with a new song titled ‘Conman’ — a move that reframed a charity week into an unexpected forum for artistic reinvention. The debut came amid a stacked line-up curated by the Cure frontman, and the band used the occasion to introduce a track that shifts their sound toward post-punk textures while nodding to long-standing collaborations.
Background and context: A charity series turned sonic showcase
The performance was part of the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts at Royal Albert Hall curated by robert, who stepped in as curator this year in place of Roger Daltrey. Chvrches were a late addition to the line-up that also features Garbage, Wolf Alice, Manic Street Preachers, Elbow and My Bloody Valentine. The band’s appearance marked their first joint stage outing in almost three years and provided the setting for the premiere of ‘Conman’.
Lauren Mayberry framed the moment to the audience: “I promise I’m not just inside watching telly all the time, we have been making a record, ” and added that the band chose the special night to play an untested song for the first time. The track opens with a pulsing, industrial bass and carries a lyric line that lands with stark imagery: “A man made for the microphone fills my pockets full of stones/All of his wives, all of his nine lives dance on the edge of a knife. ”
Deep analysis: What ‘Conman’ signals about the band’s direction
‘Conman’ departs from Chvrches’ familiar synth-pop contours and leans into grating guitar riffs, urgent vocal cries and a heavier post-punk energy. The sonic pivot was underscored by Martin Doherty’s recent comments about the band’s forthcoming album — “It’s going to surprise people, and I hope it’s going to delight them and rip some faces off. ” He also described the project as nearly finished, noting it is largely complete and retains the band’s fundamental DNA.
This onstage debut at a charity series curated by robert reframes a fundraising platform as a risk-tolerant testbed: the band acknowledges the crowd’s goodwill by asking for patience while playing new, untried material, and the audience provided a live laboratory for testing tone, arrangement and reception. The move illustrates a broader strategic posture in which acts deploy high-profile benefit shows to pilot artistic shifts without committing to full-scale promotional cycles.
Expert perspectives and the threads of collaboration
Martin Doherty, member of Chvrches, has described the band’s new record as challenging yet recognizably the band’s own, and that sentiment was audible in the performance. Lauren Mayberry, singer of Chvrches, explicitly asked the crowd for kindness before the debut, framing the reveal as both experimental and intimate. Jonny Scott, collaborator in the duo The Leaving with Doherty, has been mentioned alongside new creative ventures announced by the band’s members.
The set also highlighted long-standing artistic connections: robert’s history of collaboration with Chvrches includes a feature on their past single and joint performances at awards shows, emphasizing that the appearance at the Royal Albert Hall is part of an ongoing creative relationship rather than an isolated booking.
Elsewhere on the bill, Manic Street Preachers reached for rarities and covers tied to robert’s musical lineage, while Elbow delivered a career-spanning opening set. The run continues with other established acts performing across the weekend.
The choice to debut a heavier track within a charity run curated by robert demonstrates how benefit events can serve multiple functions: fundraising, commemoration and a low-risk environment for stylistic transition. For artists preparing albums, such occasions compress rehearsal, promotion and audience testing into a single, consequential night.
Concluding with a forward-looking question: if benefit stages become recurring launchpads for audacious musical turns, how will audiences and curators recalibrate expectations for charity shows — and will more artists use these platforms to reveal bolder creative leaps?
