poppedmusic

Pvris – Evergreen
Words: Elena Katrina

I had been listening to Pvris‘ single “Goddess” – a lot – lately. I haven’t, in all honesty, paid huge attention to them previously. I’m not sure why, they’re right up my rocky ally. When I was sent this album I thought, oh yes please I’ll have a bit of that. It’s taken me all week to get to grips with how I feel about it. I was expecting it to be a mix of what I’d heard before (I saw them play Reading Festival in 2019 so it’s not like I had been oblivious to them until now). I went to have a little nosey to see what the fans were saying and oh my, I felt a little notch of panic for Pvris – aka Lynn Gun (now working as a solo act as opposed to a band)- as there were a lot of disappointed fans out there, some of them getting a little angry. I, personally, enjoy a band or act that can develop over time, and don’t stick to the same fan-winning formula. Yes it might lose you some fans but it also might gain you some new ones…. that’s the risk, always. Music is subjective after all. But fans, well we can feel like we have more at stake somehow when our fave acts move away from the sound that made us fall in love. Acts become soundtracks to our lives, so it is difficult to feel like a direction has been taken that you don’t want to follow. The thing is though, is that there’s not a huge amount here that hasn’t been, at least hinted at, in previous albums. Once I’d got my head around that I realised that, in part, this feels like a natural progression. I still struggle a little with “Animal“, which for me me, feels a little Rhianna in parts but messes with my head with that luscious dirty fuzz. But the subject matter is Fierce, with a capital F. “Anywhere But Here” also has that modern RnB vibe to it – it’s the production and I really dislike it. Lynn has better vocals than this treatment showcases. I’m not sure I’m going to get what I want from this track live. It’s just not one for me (I can hear a totally different arrangement for it in my head that would sound divine).

Even though I don’t have that fan attachment, I can totally appreciate that even though this solo direction makes sense, at times, I do miss the “band” in Pvris. I’m trying not to, but if I go and revisit some other tracks I often find I’m going back to them rather than most of the tracks on “Evergreen“. There are some exceptions though. I kind of feel like “Evergreen” could have been two EPS rather than an album. I’m allll here for “Goddess”, (I hard love this song), “Good Enemy” (Pendulum remix this please), “I Don’t Wanna Do This Anymore” and “Hype Zombies“. I can hear elements that bring them together with the rest of the album, but I want that grit and I want fast heavy angry guitars and I want drums – proper ones, not just electronic beats. These tracks have the feisty energy that I enjoy, even if they don’t have the musical landscape I’d prefer.

So where does this leave me? A new fan of Pvris? Not really, I’m so on the fence. This is probably the most mixed review I’ve ever written. But I felt that I wanted to write it, I was excited to write it and I have favoured listening to the “Evergreen” album over almost everything else in my inbox this week. So that says SOMETHING. I might come to regret writing this review after a week of listening as I do wonder if the rest is growing on me, like moss, perhaps – how apt that would be.


Listen to Evergreen here: