My Enemy

Album: Love Is Dead (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • "My Enemy" finds Chvrches frontwoman Lauren Mayberry duetting with Matt Berninger of The National. The moody and atmospheric track features Berninger on the verses, with Mayberry crooning the chorus.

    "We've all been huge fans of The National for a long time," said Mayberry. "We had played a few festivals together but really got to know Matt when we were involved in 7 Inches For Planned Parenthood, a fundraising and awareness campaign that he spearheaded. It's really inspiring and reassuring to meet other artists you admire and realize that they are trying to do some good in the world."

    "We kept in touch after that and, when it came time to record 'My Enemy,' Iain and Martin suggested I email Matt to see if he'd like to sing on it. We never realistically thought he'd have time to do it but he replied right away and recorded the track at his house the next day."
  • Multi-instrumentalist Martin Doherty originally sang on "My Enemy" before his voice was replaced with Berninger's unmistakable baritone tones. "We realized pretty quickly it would lend itself well to the duality of two points of view, once Lauren had come in with the lyric," he told Pitchfork. "But when my voice was on the verse, it felt somehow wrong to me. I thought we could make this into something special with someone like Matt, who can sell stories so purely, who sings one word and I'm there."
  • Berninger also makes a surprise cameo appearance in Chvrches video for "Get Out."
  • Once Lauren Mayberry messaged Matt Berninger, The National singer recorded his vocal within half a day. Martin Doherty told HMV.com: "He had some guy come round his house and they cut the vocal. That was it. I was expecting a collaboration like that to have lots of people to go through, but it was very easy."

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