Photo Credit: Matty Vogel
Since their early hardcore days, Massachusetts trio-turned-solo-project PVRIS have pivoted further and further towards electro-pop and pop-rock – and though the album art for their fourth LP, Evergreen, may initially suggest otherwise, this newest offering presents a continuation of this trend. Of course, as PVRIS moves further into pop territory, the prospect of widespread commercial success grows, and Lynn Gunn seems to believe that Evergreen holds the path to PVRIS’ domination of the genre. At least, that’s the impression that one gets from the boasts that populate “Hype Zombies” where Gunn confidently states, “I’ve been taking notes of everyone who went and slept on me // Dug a couple graves, they got their names up by the mausoleum.”
Unfortunately, beyond the boldness suggested by such barbs, as well as the disconcerting album cover – which depicts a decapitated Gunn – Evergreen is an album that largely plays it safe. The slinky electro-pop opener aims for the pop ecstasy of Carly Rae Jepsen or CHVRCH’s best music, but shares more in common with the colorless pastiche of Ava Max’s most recent LP, Diamonds & Dancefloors. Here, Gunn could do with taking greater inspiration from the band’s early hardcore days, with her distressed cries of “I don’t wanna do this anymore,” begging for heavier accompaniment. Such remains true on “Animal” where cries of “I’m not your animal,” are undermined by limp accompaniments.
Evergreen’s central failing remains the disconnect between Gunn’s outsized persona and the largely boilerplate sound that dominates the LP. This is evident on “Senti-Mental,” whose cries of “psycho central” and “I’d go mental” become grating against a forgettable backdrop. This disconnect is most jarring on “Good Enemy” – a song filled with endless posturing that is ultimately too polished to do justice to its violent imagery. Matters are made worse by a lack of lyrical creativity on Gunn’s behalf – it’s hard not to groan when she delivers the words “world war me,” especially as the song devolves into mindless repetitions of “me-me-me-me.”
Even at a relatively short 32 minutes, Evergreen does occasionally overstay its welcome. “Hype Zombies” is the album’s most superfluous cut. Barely two minutes in length, the song sees Gunn restate the album’s pre-established themes in more brazen and less convincing tones (“I’ve been taking notes of everyone who went and slept on me // Dug a couple graves, they got their names up by the mausoleum”), while half of the already-brief number is taken up by an uninteresting instrumental section.
Though often disappointing and underwhelming, Evergreen is a reliably competent album and enjoys a select number of highlights that suggest PVRIS has the potential to succeed as a solo project. “Goddess” succeeds because it abandons the self-seriousness that pervades the preceding track. “Is she a wo’, or a man? // I’m a mother fucking brand”, declares Gunn in a camp sing-speak. It’s the album’s most straightforwardly fun moment.
Evergreen’s most enjoyable moments tend to be its most understated and down-to-earth. On “Anywhere But Here” Gunn abandons the posturing and revenge fantasies, and embraces vulnerability as a strength – over finger-picked guitar playing, simple confessions like “I feel so sad in the Summer, we’re going under,” prove affecting. Despite all of Evergreen’s misdirections, at the album’s heart is a genuinely talented songwriter.
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