Chvrches Just Turned Justin Bieber’s “What Do You Mean?” into an Even Bigger Banger

september 23, 2015, 9:27am

Historically, the greatest covers in the world do not tend to emerge from Radio 1’s Live Lounge. The late Amy Winehouse did such a good job of The Zutons’ “Valerie” that everyone forgot The Zutons existed in the first place, but usually things dive head first into the bin of culture – like when Catfish and the Bottlemen covered Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead” and mashed it up with a Kasabian song. What tends to happen is, indie bands take chart pop bangers and either give them the most maudlin or most problematic treatment imaginable – or, in the case of Kasabian covering Iggy Azalea, both.

But not this time. Not Chvrches, who stepped into the Live Lounge earlier today with a take on Justin Bieber’s comeback slapper ‘What Do You Mean?’ that’s so lit it actually elevates it into an even bigger banger than it was originally, creating a brand new equation of Bieber + synths = GOAT.