"'Use Me' is special and unique, just like PVRIS themselves."
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Awesome
By Bruna Cucolo
Recommended Songs: “Good to Be Alive,” “Hallucinations,” and “January Rain”
After pushing back the release date of their album Use Me twice, PVRIS have officially put out their new record on August 28. Use Me fills fans with joy as they listen to the album in full for the first time. With a handwritten note left for fans, PVRIS posted on their socials, “Use Me is now out and into the world for you to listen to. I hope you connect, dance, cry and sing along. Made with love, PVRIS.”
And indeed, the album does just that for listeners. The 11-track record portrays emotions that numerous people have felt at least once in their lifetime. This makes the listener feel more connected to the songs and they may imagine that they were written directly for them.
Track one titled “Gimme a Minute” begins with a pulse-like music that lures the listener in. Vocalist Lynn Gunn’s voice sounds almost as though she sings in an empty room and her voice is smooth – it’s just her and pulsing sounds. “Wide awake” are the first words sung and the listener is doubtlessly in that state and ready for what the band has to share. While it kicks off slow and steady, cymbals are then tapped on, “I think I’m losing my mind” is shouted, and the beat picks up and the excursion of the album has started.
The record goes on to speak about no longer being able to stand others taking advantage of one self’s kindness in “Dead Weight” with lyrics “I can’t take it over and over/Dead weight hanging off of my shoulder.” It expresses not wanting to carry on this way while the music is fun to dance to as if dancing away the dead weight.
An album with different components will often include at least one acoustic song, and PVRIS did add one titled “Loveless.” Feeling like a target, the singer vents about the burden she carries from someone else. With Gunn’s vocals being soft and sometimes higher pitched, her struggle of feeling as though she’s loveless is heard.
Toward the end, the band features New Jersey-based hip hop artist 070 Shake on their album-titled track “Use Me.” With a hard beat to it, the tune shows the person allowing someone to use them for comfort. 070 Shake voices that she would offer to help, with lyrics “Stay put, babe, I’m coming for you.” The two artists balance each other out with their vocal ranges in this almost dream-like tune with its instrumentals and vocals combined.
The closing track begins more laidback with a beat one could walk to along a sidewalk. “Wish You Well” more or less gives hope that from now on the listener is also well after hearing this album – the record has brought multiple emotions yet helped the listener in some way and they can leave this listening session well and at ease. So they walk away from it until quickly coming back for another round or two of streaming the songs.
The songs in this album blend well together just enough that it does not all sound the same, but they all complement each other. The feelings that are shared between the band and the listeners create a special bond due to the closeness they feel to the band with their powerful and relatable lyrics.
PVRIS succeed in giving fans a piece of art that soothes them, making them feel less alone by knowing they are not the only ones having felt what has been expressed. Use Me is special and unique, just like PVRIS themselves. Take a listen and absorb all those emotions that have been felt before and may still be lingering within you.
