PVRIS' "White Noise" Is A Masterpiece Of Emotion

There will always come a time when you find yourself feeling as if life is constantly kicking you down deeper and deeper. Try as you may to stand up, more weight falls on your back and that power begins to hit you. It grows and festers until it becomes too much to bare, and sometimes that pain may take you over.

It may not be possible to avoid that pain, but there are ways to get through it. One of those ways is to know you're not alone. PVRIS is a relatively new band on the scene, but their music will help you feel that no matter what you're going through, especially if its something painful regarding love. PVRIS' White Noise is a masterpiece of emotion, drawing every single word and sound straight from their hearts.

It is very hard to really make your emotions be heard in a powerful way, but PVRIS manages to do it in every song. Opening track 'Smoke' brings the record to a driven and commanding start, Lynn Gunn's vocals smoothly and searchingly soaring above the punchy drums and dreamy guitar. Gunn cries out in the name of love as she sings about a relationship that she's grown indifferent to. A major theme of White Noise is taking yourself back in the face of something tragic, seen also in one of the band's signature anthems 'My House.' The synth rock song is beautiful orchestrated, building up as the emotion swells, the epic bridge breaking down in one glorious blaze before the final chorus kicks in and the entire song comes to a climactic end.

With taking yourself back also comes losing yourself. Title track 'White Noise' does this amazingly, the more restrained but somewhat lost atmosphere perfectly emulating a certain driven emptiness that you would feel in yourself. The song sees Gunn wishing for someone to come to her or to return to her, the chorus heartbreakingly chanting "I'm watching, I'm waiting / I'm aching / Suffocating / I'm breathing, I'm speaking / Can you hear me? I'm screaming for you" as she sings of wishing this person would come back to her. The bridge brokenly sings "Sick of the lack of signal, sick of the lack of touch / Sick of the static voice / It's not enough, it's not enough / Baby, it's hard to be just what you need when all I speak is static screams / Can you hear me" as she sings about being tired of the barriers between them, wishing that they'd see through all of them and just hear the words she's saying.

There aren't many bands like PVRIS out there - they have such a unique sound, and this being their debut album, this set a powerful standard for them. From the beautifully sparse and blissful instrumental of 'Holy' (despite its almost mocking lyrics) to the aggressive electronic rock anthem that closes the record 'Let Them In,' PVRIS shows their diversity from track to track. 'Eyelids' brings about a haunting theme, the instrumental perfectly illustrating the feeling of waking up from a dream just to face the real nightmare. You can't ignore Gunn's voice, either, as every word she sings feels incredibly powerful and straight from her heart. There's no one else like this band on any end of the spectrum. Two bonus tracks on the deluxe edition, 'You and I' and 'Empty,' show a different side to the band as well, also featuring a sort of progression. 'You and I' is heartbreaking on every end, similar to 'White Noise' and it's longing to be noticed. 'Empty' is incredibly beautiful with its amazing vocals and sparse instrumentation. Gunn's lyrics are incredible and add a new depth to the record.

PVRIS' White Noise is a masterpiece of emotion. It's the perfect representation of a broken heart from every angle: from the pain of wanting someone to come back to the difficulty of moving on. It's tragedy wrapped up in beautifully constructed music that sends one important overall message: if you're hurting, you are not alone.

Favorite Tracks: White Noise, My House, St. Patrick, You and I, Let Them I

Least Favorite Track: Ghosts

Rating: 98 / 100

Stay tuned for our review of their new album All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell later tonight. Stream or buy White Noise on Apple Music: