Chvrches brings its 'yes-but' sound to the Electric Factory

Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, and Martin Doherty were veterans of indie guitar bands when they holed up in Cook's basement studio in Glasgow to create the songs that would become 2013's

The Bones of What You Believe

, Chvrches' bright, shiny electro-pop debut. On the strength of hits such as "The Mother We Share" and "Regret," the Scottish trio became a pop band.

Chvrches brings that sound to the Electric Factory on Thursday.

"When we talk to people about this band, a lot of people ask, 'When did you decide to go pop?' " Mayberry says, speaking in rapid paragraphs from a London hotel room. "I guess that is the case for some people and some bands, but definitely in our previous projects, we were the people who were most obsessed with melody. For us, it didn't feel like going pop. It felt like no longer trying to be obscure on purpose, and that's quite freeing when you find other people who you want to do that with. At the same time, nobody's saying, 'Let's write a pop song with no substance that's all about partying and chicks and stuff like that.' "

The success of The Bones of What You Believe kept the band on the road for a year, and the musicians continued to work on translating their synth-based music into a live setting so that their gigs don't ever feel like what Mayberry calls "a glorified playback party."

"I feel like we're kind of a 'yes-but' genre. It's a pop band, but it's not. It's an electronic band, but it's not. We wanted to take the kind of indie-alternative-rock mentality that we had and apply that to an electronic pop show," says Mayberry. "We want to feel like we're communicating to people in a way that feels authentic to us. I feel like, by the end of our touring, we definitely nailed the live element of the band. It was just a question of how to turn that kind of energy into our record."

The trio again retreated to Cook's home studio, and Mayberry says their collaborative work when writing is "the best part of being in this band." The result is Every Open Eye, which again juxtaposes contemporary pop beats and laptop-based melodies with emotionally direct lyrics on songs such as "Never Ending Circles" and "Leave a Trace."

Mayberry sees Chvrches' style as inclusive. "When I was at university or in high school, I was a massive music snob, and there were definitely genres I wouldn't listen to or music I wouldn't touch," she says, adding that she favored "post-rock, emo, and alternative."

"I guess, when I look back on it, that was part of my growing-up, and the music I was identifying with I was choosing to form my identity. But now I feel, as more time has passed, well, an amazing song can come in any genre. There's amazing songs in all genres, and limiting yourself to 'I don't listen to that type of music' feels quite sad, because music is about communication and emotion."

Chvrches, with Mansionair, performs at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St. Tickets: $42.75. Information: 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com.