PVRIS – Evergreen
After a three-year hiatus, PVRIS (pronounced “Paris”) has returned with a fourth album as the solo project of frontwoman Lyndsey Gunnulfsen, who joined pop-punk haven Hopeless Records after the band’s departure from Warner. There’s a sense of newly acquired creative freedom piercing through this new release, aptly called Evergreen. This is the kind of album that one can breeze through, with 11 tracks, each between two and three minutes long.
The first, I Don’t Wanna Do This Anymore, is a catchy, electro-pop introduction to the core themes: the ephemerality of fame and success in a post-pandemic world, where one must exist and make art in ecosystems dominated by trends. A world in which everyone is replaceable, everything must be consumed ravenously and nothing is created to last and stand the test of time.
Take My Nirvana, a fusion of hip-hop and alt-rock, is an electrifying release of energy, and one of the standouts. With the enchanting and empowering Goddess, Gunn encourages her listeners to dance, harnessing her god-like vocal prowess: “Said you wanted iconic/I’ve been iconic since I started/I keep climbing and clawing/This shit is so exhausting.”
In the second half of the album, there is a slight change. Gunn starts to look more inward while keeping the same relentless pace. Headlights offers a mesmerising journey into the singer’s inner world, and is a testament to what she is trying to achieve: a creation with a more substantial, timeless and honest quality. A loud scream born from necessity; an act of defiance and self-definition. The artist confidently makes her point, taking a risk by experimenting with and mixing different sounds and styles. In the end, it mostly pays off.
Born as a metalcore band, PVRIS subsequently fused synthpop with alternative rock, resulting in their signature dark alt-rock sound, accompanied by Gunn’s strong vocals. Particularly in this album, her voice – in all its angelic, raw strength – serves as a beacon of light, guiding the listener through. An angry angel with heavy wings, hoovering over dark waters.
Although there is not one track that is not enjoyable to listen or dance to, it is a pretty rushed, quick journey that does not give the listener an opportunity to completely dive in and be immersed, to experience each song through all the senses. Overall, however, PVRIS delivers a well-crafted album with striking visuals, infused with a liberating feeling that lingers afterwards.
Benedetta Mancusi
Image: Matty Vogel
Evergreen is released on 14th July 2023. For further information or to order the album visit PVRIS’s website here.
Watch the video for the single Anywhere But Here here:
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