When Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches announced she was launching a solo career, I imagined it would be promoted heavily through Chvrches’ social media. I assumed wrong. I had to scramble to catch up earlier this month when I realized her solo work had already begun.

For starters, she released the first single, Are You Awake. It’s pretty much what I’d expect from Lauren Mayberry solo: very sad and very beautiful.

However, I also learned that she was performing a live show here in Toronto at the Horseshoe Tavern. It was already sold out, but thankfully I managed to grab a ticket on the secondary market.

The show was earlier this week, and it was pretty amazing. Interestingly, most of Lauren’s other new songs are quite different from Are You Awake — a lot louder and more energetic. Overall I’d say the new stuff sounds fairly similar to Chvrches, but heavier and with more of an edge. I’m here for it.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the opening act, an artist named Ggwendolyn whom I was not previously familiar with. I’ve decided to take the unusual step of having two songs of the month for September so I can show her a bit of love, too.

While her music is different, as a person Ggwendolyn reminded me of Lauren a lot. They’re both fond of amusingly self-deprecating banter between songs. At one point, Ggwendolyn talked about one of her songs being relatable for people who deal with depression, and the whole crowd started cheering. “WOO DEPRESSION.”

That’s how you know it’s a crowd of Chvrches fans.