Whilst I wanted more from this album as their other two have shown off their talents (and they really are talented) in different and exciting ways, you can’t knock the solidity of it. It’s a rock album more gentle than most of AC/DC but has tracks like
Wild Child with Tom Morello (yup, Rage Against the Machine Tom Morello) which quench the thirst for the deeper, flirty rock the Struts have mastered.
Overall,
Strange Days is not what I wanted, but what I got was something I’m still happy to belt out loud to, especially
All Dressed Up (With Nowhere To Go) as I dance in the uni kitchen in my abandoned boat party clothes.
Whilst
Use Me seems to be the end of an old chapter for PVRIS, it is logical to see it more as a new beginning, with Gunn taking ownership and sole credit of the PVRIS name, expanding and building on everything that PVRIS have released up until this point in time.
Use Me is irrefutably a true PVRIS album.
Merging catchy, ear-worming mainstream pop beats and twinkling synths with grooving basslines and gritty guitars
It follows on logically from their debut
White Noise and sophomore
All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell, merging catchy, ear-worming mainstream pop beats and twinkling synths with grooving basslines and gritty guitars, combining the genres of pop and rock, whilst also bending these genres by simultaneously experimenting with soulful R&B sounds, and electric dance beats.
The album title serves as a metaphor for love and connection within a relationship, leading to passionate, powerful and introspective lyrics. ‘The Glow’ is something which is difficult to attain – “I don’t know, I’m sick and tired of chasing the glow” lead vocalist Tommy O’Dell declares on the album’s title track.
Life is A Game of Changing is a new rave club banger based around an electronic beat, contrasting entirely to slower, mellow-toned, piano-driven ballads such as
Criminals, Learning Alive and
Appointment, the latter of which is the most tender, stripped-back song on the entire record, with beautifully layered acoustic and electric guitars.
The making of the album was an immersive process for her fanbase – they contributed to the lyrics of tracks such as
Anthems via Instagram livestreams, an email address was set up for them to send their artwork, and they even named one of the lead singles of the project. This single, titled
Claws, has a euphoric EDM sound, produced by Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs – a collaboration which makes perfect sense in the light of Charli’s contributions to the ‘hyperpop’ genre.
Lyrically, the album is mostly an ode to long-term boyfriend Huck Kwong. After previously living long-distance on opposite sides of the country, and struggling to maintain their relationship, Charli quarantined with Kwong in her Los Angeles home. This lockdown enabled them to spend quality time together and strengthened their bond, ultimately saving their relationship, resulting in the recording of songs such as
STFU! – the lead single – is similarly audacious. Blending metal and 2000s pop, Rina creates a fiery song, unleashing her pent-up anger towards the microaggressions she faces as a Japanese-British woman. The robust electric guitar instrumental can only be done justice when blasted at full volume.
Both
Akasaka Sad explore intergenerational depression: “the pain in my veins is hereditary”.
Akasaka Sad sees Rina pay homage to her Japanese heritage, singing in Japanese and English. Instrumentally, this song is substandard, with an over-repetitive trip-hop chorus. The album’s closing song,
Snakeskin, also falls into this same, slightly jarring trap. However, lyrically, it’s a strong ending, as Rina uses the metaphor of a snakeskin to reveal how she’s shedding the trauma identified on earlier tracks.