EVERGREEN by PVRIS

It’s hard to determine which PVRIS single is the best forerunner to their new album EVERGREEN. Was it “Monster,” which uses similar distorted guitars and vocals? Was it “My Way,” the lyrics and title of which make clear the manner frontwoman Lynn Gunn has chosen for her sound: “My my my way / my sweat, my blood, my pain”? Perhaps it’s both of these singles together. Enter EVERGREEN, an album that takes the catchy hooks of 2020’s Use Me and transforms the PVRIS pop-rock sound. 

It’s not just the distortions or the palpable frustration that takes this album in a new direction; there is a clear R&B influence on the album. It appears in the skittering hi-hats and percussive beats that appear in songs like “ANIMAL.” You can feel it in the way Gunn sing-speaks, half-bragging and half-tongue-in-cheek, in the verses of “GODDESS.” You can hear it in the production of “TAKE MY NIRVANA,” which recruits Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park fame to add his rap rock flair. Even Gunn’s use of her lower register in “LOVE IS A…” sounds so much like 070 Shake, who featured on the Use Me album, that I thought she was featuring again. Make no mistake, this is still very much a rock album–but the new sounds allow Gunn’s creativity and experimentation to truly pay off. 

More than anything, this album is a tale of two halves: the guitar-heavy, frustrated, energetic first half, followed by a wistful, introspective half. The first part of the album would overwhelm the second if not for the way the lyrics and subject matter of the latter part begin to call back and reflect upon the former. This brings the album full circle, and allows Gunn to gain clarity and closure on many of its themes. The entire second half of “HEADLIGHTS,” which repeats “Is it in my mind? Yeah, it’s in my mind” over and over, calls back to both “SENTI-MENTAL” (“If I was sentimental / I’d be losing my mind”) and “GOOD ENEMY” (“I love a good enemy / Baby it’s me”). In the rage-filled “ANIMAL,” PVRIS spits back against something caging and controlling her; in “LOVE IS A…,” possession between lovers becomes alluring, sexy, and desired: “Just put your hands around my throat / Ain’t been to heaven but I’m close.” 

The difference is choice; the difference is personhood versus objectification. Perhaps the most important callback is between the album opener and closer. Distraught, confused, and frustrated with the world, PVRIS in the opener says it all in the title: “I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE.” By the album’s end, PVRIS has found no resolution with the world, but her own resolve has hardened. “I don’t care what they say about me / I’m gonna be evergreen,” Gunn screams at the very end. It’s a promise. 

-Peyton

Saved! (2004) Dir. Brian Dannelly

This movie feels especially niche to my interests in the complexities and utter insanities of evangelical Christianity. Saved! (2004) is about a teenage girl, Mary, who believes that Jesus has given her the mission to save the soul of her gay boyfriend, Dean, by offering her virginity to him. Even after following through with the plan, Dean’s parents send him to a conversion center to “cure” him, and Mary discovers that she is pregnant, sending a shockwave through her faith. Through her new trials and tribulations, she finds new friends in her Christian school’s misfits, and realizes that the world is not as black and white as she always believed.

The world that the film presents is honestly very true to life. There are the cringey older people trying to make their religion seem cool and hip to the teens, the prayer circles solely meant to divulge gossip, and a general sense of “who’s the most righteous?” It is the characters themselves that ham up what is most ridiculous about the extremes within Christianity in order to create satire. In turn, the movie relies on its audience to exist far outside the realms of evangelicalism for humor. For example, the popular girls are the truly devout and entirely virginal “Jewels”, led by Hilary Faye, played by Mandy Moore. Mary confides in Hilary about her boyfriend’s “problem,” to which Hilary Faye calls for a prayer circle. Mary, understandably angry for the breach of trust, tells Hilary that her and her prayer circle are wasting their time, to which Hilary responds, “Prayer works! It’s been medically proven!” This one scene could mean something different depending on what sides of the spectrum of religion and Christianity you are on, but Mandy Moore’s delivery is hilarious.

This movie is by no means a cinematic masterpiece. It uses very simplistic shots and dialogue, and I do agree with some reviews that it might not go as hard as it could on the satire. However, I don’t think its purpose is to lampoon Christianity so much as it is to emphasize the gray that Christianity can often overlook. Mary struggles with her faith, but she never disavows it. 

Saved! is one of my comfort movies, and one that I watch every so often if it pops up on a streaming service.

-Elise

End notes: EVERGREEN album art