Here’s a chicken/egg question for you: Were the members of Scottish trio Chvrches unheralded pop masters before they ditched their guitars for synthesizers, or did the synths unlock that pop mastery in them for all to appreciate? (And let me tell you, I appreciated the hell out of Chvrches this year.) Whichever came first, the result is a dozen specimens of modern music at its most effervescent. The Bones Of What You Believe is one of those miraculous pop albums that seems effortless in hindsight but in reality was the product of slavish devotion to craft. If manifesting masterpieces on the level of “The Mother We Share” was this easy, everybody would do it — and we’d still probably be amazed at how weightless they makes us feel. –Chris [LISTEN]