White Noise by PVRIS

Said your name into a mirror three times / said it three times / said it three times

There’s something about this album that makes it so much more than merely its sounds. It’s a whirlpool of dark and light in a constant deadlock, ever so subtly drawing one in to explore the abyss we all fear most. White Noise is a collection of sounds, that put together, break your heart and tear your soul apart in the most cathartic way possible.

PVRIS (pronounced Paris) dropped this LP in November 2014, after having previously released multiple demos and 2 EPs. While those EPs did suggest that this band was more than just another group in the saturated Warped Tour scene, White Noise blew that notion completely out of the water.

What makes this album truly spectacular, in my opinion, is its darkness. I truly love the entire vibe of the album – it’s like this album opens a Pandora’s Box of emotions we pack up and store in a dark, lonely corner of our hearts. The three-piece act effortlessly makes this dark shine, igniting it with a stunning myriad of textures, ranging from hopeless ballads to arena-sized anthems.

PVRIS display an astonishing variety of sounds and styles throughout the album, a feat incredibly impressive for such a young band. Songs like Fire and Let Them In thrive on arena-sized choruses, with their steady verses signalling the entrance of a tsunami-sized wave of sheer energy. My House, the most massive track on this album, takes this energy to a whole new level, led by Lyndsey Gunnulfsen’s soaring vocals. Clearly, the trio don’t fall short in packing a bloody good punch.

"It's my house / and I think it's time you get out"

But the rest of the tracks add an entire new dimension to their already infectious groove, as guitarist Alex Babinski and bassist Brian MacDonald prove that their arsenal comprises much more than distorted riffs. Surely, St. Patrick illustrates this best – the flagship track of the album, which is by far their most pop-influenced effort, and easily one of their most electrifying songs. The tongue-in-cheek expressions of hopeless love (“You give me something to think about / that’s not the shit in my head”) add to the track, making it so easy to love. But if Lynn wanted her love back in St. Patrick , then maybe Ghosts would tell you the reason why her love left. It’s incredible though, how the band can so easily put pleasant melodies and heartbreaks together, as heard on this track.

"You’re a miracle" 

(Click here for the studio version)

Still, there are songs on the opposite end of the energy spectrum, that move your soul as much as the bashing stadium-sized choruses do. Goodbyes are always painful, and the ballad Eyelids makes that pain in your heart very, very real. Holy takes on hypocrisy and brokenness at its most profound, weaving its beautiful intricacies through lyrics that reveal the true colours of an individual living his life in his own shadow. White Noise, the title track, is in its own way a ballad too, topped with gripping Morse-code-like synth lines that show the band at their most adventurous. Alex’s riffs in these songs so delicately combine with Brian’s synth/ bass lines in these songs, truly showcasing how immensely talented they are.

Smoke, the album opener, opens the album with an urgency that steadily builds, and pretty much grips the listener right from the opening beat. “I feel a fire in the back of my throat so let’s get covered in flames and play some games with the smoke.” Mirrors spins a similar mid-tempo thump in a completely different way, playing on terrifying yet alluring desires, possibly hinting at occult references. It amazes me how this track loves in such a vicious way.

"I know you’re dead inside / but you make me feel alive"

Along with effortlessly pulling every heartstring of mine with their every beat, the album also got me thinking about what made it so beautiful. I couldn’t really come to a conclusion, so prepare yourself for the convoluted mishmash that I’m going ramble about now.

I feel like PVRIS have many concepts at play that go into their music, vibe and image, some of which are in fact polar opposites of each other. On a musical level, for a start, while the general theme of the album is dark and painful (of course not without amazing feel good moments and sinister excitement), the album makes use of weirdly sweet sounds, if that’s even a valid description. After all, Lynn mentioned in an interview that while she has very dark thoughts, she also loves sweet sounds. So they incorporated an interplay of synthesisers and guitar riffs which in my opinion, turned this album into a masterpiece. Love and loneliness, satisfaction and misery, and hope and hopelessness are also among the conflicting concepts that make this album so unique.

Acknowledging the second wave of recognition the album got, PVRIS dropped a deluxe edition just this year, with three new tracks on it. They decided to shake things up a little, and put the songs before the initial opening track, Smoke . And it made all the difference.

White Noise was already brimming with energy, but You & I , the first new track, gave the energy a whole new dimension. It builds to a crescendo of hope, love, pain and joy all at once, with an absolutely stunning chorus. The stripped down version of this track has completely different emotions going, putting this song into an entirely new perspective. Empty brings chills to the bone too, being similar in nature to You and I (Stripped) . “What do you want from me?” Lynn bellows oh so gorgeously. “I’m empty”.

"We can meet in the middle / bodies and souls collide"

White Noise, as a totality, is far from merely being an album. It’s not a static compilation, meant to represent a point in time; it’s a dynamic transmission, with an insatiable thirst for more. Even through their mostly-black-and-white music videos, (they have music videos for 11 out of the 13 tracks on the deluxe edition by the way, which is awesome) they paint a picture that no other combination of colour could paint. PVRIS’ made a masterpiece out of darkness, by turning it into a priceless, intangible human connection. They showed us how beautiful darkness can be, sometimes more so than light.

And its exactly bands like these, those who speak to and resonate within the hidden chambers of our heart, that make us feel alive.

“You make my world spin

Placebo feelings

And in the morning

I’ll wait to see you again”

-Karan