PVRIS didn’t exactly have the best time when they played Reading Festival last. But, scrappy and determined as ever, they’re back and they’ve got a pocketful of vengeance. We caught up with them before their set to help calm their nerves. Turns out they didn’t need us for that, but they did tell us all about what’s on the horizon.
Hello PVRIS. You’re back playing live. How are you finding the shows?
Lynn: Really, really fun. They’re the most fun. Maybe I just forgot for a second how fun they could be because I was too stressed out all the time.
I know the last album cycle was a bit of a ‘mare for you Lynn. Alex and Brian, how was it for you?
Brian: It was just learning points. We were all going through shit. It’s life. We’re actual humans too, so we’re going through things other than what’s happening in the band, while being on the road. We’re so stoked to be back though.
There’s an EP coming. You didn’t mention that last time we spoke, were you playing it coy?
Lynn: Yeah, afraid so. We’ve wanted to do this for a while actually. Not just one EP but multiple EPs. I think right now the plan is to do one and then the record following that but who knows? It could change.
So tell us about this EP.
Lynn: It’s got five songs. ‘Hallucinations’, ‘Death Of Me’ and then there are the remaining three songs which all have different energies. One is a very minimal ballad. One is kind of classic, brooding, dark PVRIS. And then there’s one that’s kind of dark and weird, but it’s masked to be very poppy and fun. It ‘s like summertime. It’s a song you jam in your car, with the windows down but the lyrics are weird, so it balances out.
Lyrically, what inspired those other three songs?
Lynn: There was actually a small relationship I had like three years ago with somebody, it was very quick and very intense. I wrote those songs right after things had ended.
Those have always felt like very special songs so it was cool to finish them. It’s weird, I’m realising this now but I always wanted them to be on an EP cause they feel slightly different from where the rest of our music is.
So, the album. Do you know when it’s coming out?
Lynn: Well…
Oh, you definitely do. You’re just not saying. Fine. Is it finished?
Lynn: It’s still being explored. But we have a good collection that we just need to finish up. Then we want to find the perfect combination.
Obviously with your debut, you were celebrated for building these worlds to get lost in with the videos for every song and the general aesthetic. Did it feel like you had to try and recreate that with the second record?
Lynn: There’s just a lot with the second record that just didn’t go as planned. The universe was kind of putting us through bootcamp. It was really beneficial in the long run though. There are songs like ‘What’s Wrong’, ‘Winter’ and ‘Nola 1’ where it’s us genuinely doing what we wanted to do but there’s also moments, at least production-wise, where we’re masking it to make it more rock-leaning ‘cause we were afraid to take the dive into really doing what we wanted, which was something much more polished and kind of what it is now. It feels good to be doing that. This time around, it feels like less pressure, which is nice
And you’ve got some more intimate shows coming up in America, Europe and the UK. They’ll be fun.
Lynn: This whole year has been about rebuilding. We want to get back to the roots and take care of the core, core fans.
