The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Show reviews
    • Interviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
  • Music
    • Live music
    • Album reviews
    • Interviews
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
    • Fringe
    • Vault Festival
    • Interviews
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Interviews
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join the team
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Culture Music Album reviews

PVRIS – Evergreen

PVRIS – Evergreen | Album review
14th July 2023
Benedetta Mancusi
Avatar
Benedetta Mancusi
14 July 2023

Music review

Benedetta Mancusi

Evergreen

★★★★★

Release date

14th July 2023

Highlights

Take My Nirvana, Headlights

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:

Related ItemsalbumEvergreenmusicPVRISreview

More in Album reviews

The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds

★★★★★
Christopher Connor
Read More

The Streets – The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More

Ed Sheeran – Autumn Variations

★★★★★
Emily Downie
Read More

Kylie Minogue – Tension

★★★★★
Benedetta Mancusi
Read More

Samantha Urbani – Showing Up

★★★★★
Christopher Connor
Read More

The National – Laugh Track

★★★★★
Christopher Connor
Read More

Thirty Seconds to Mars – It’s the End of the World but It’s a Beautiful Day

★★★★★
Kirst Hubbard
Read More

Olivia Rodrigo – Guts

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More

Romy – Mid Air

★★★★★
Christopher Connor
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Music review

Benedetta Mancusi

Evergreen

★★★★★

Release date

14th July 2023

Highlights

Take My Nirvana, Headlights

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Wish
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Girl
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Wish
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen at Bush Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Girl
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
  • Contact us
  • Join the team
  • Subscribe to the mailing list
  • Support us
  • Writing for The Upcoming

Copyright © 2011-2023 FL Media