The Mother We Share

Michael Cragg of The Guardian gave the song a positive review, while noting the mood differences between the song and a previous Chvrches track, "Lies". He wrote that the song "tempers the monster synth riffs in favour of twinkling keyboards, padded drum claps and a central lyric that lends the whole thing a slightly melancholic edge."^[3]

Duncan Cooper of The Fader praised Lauren Mayberry's vocals, comparing them to those of Megan James of Purity Ring.^[4] Ian Cohen of Pitchfork also similarly wrote that "Lauren Mayberry's neon sing-song vocals makes Chvrches stand out in a crowded field", while stating that the song's "melodic concision and extroversion goes beyond even that of recent adaptors like Purity Ring." He also compared the song to the works by the electronic music duo the Knife.^[5]

Pitchfork ranked it number 191 on their list of the top 200 tracks of the 2010s so far in 2014.^[6] In 2013, the song won the Popjustice £20 Music Prize for best British pop song.^[7]

The music video for the song, directed by SJ Lee and featuring Alexandra Chelaru, was released on 5 August 2013. It alters between "a narrative of a lonely girl traversing her way through New York City" and flashy shots of Chvrches performing the track.^{[8][9][10][11]}

"The Mother We Share" was used in a 2014 Marc Jacobs commercial.^[17]

The song was covered by artists such as Half Moon Run, Soak and Eefje de Visser.^[18][19][20]

The song was also used in the soundtrack of the 2014 racing video game Forza Horizon 2, in the radio station Horizon Pulse.^[21]

• Lauren Mayberry – lead vocals, additional synthesizers
• Iain Cook – synthesizers, guitar, bass, vocals
• Martin Doherty – synthesizers, samplers, vocals