Album Review: PVA - 'Blush'
PVA stun on debut with entrancing dance album ‘Blush’.
Two years after the trio first displayed their enormous electronic potential with EP release “Toner”, PVA returned to the forefront of the scene with a major display of their fervent live energy. “Blush” consists of songs which were mostly written throughout national lockdown in 2020, when live music as we know it came to a halt for more than a year.
Opener “Untethered” highlights warped arpeggiator sounds that one would expect to hear in techno clubs in the heart of Berlin, with a change in octave that tears the groove into a new level of delirium.
The change between electronic drum sounds and recorded takes of Louis Satchell’s fast-paced rhythmic skills on a live drum set makes every track more intriguing, as the two work harmoniously on each track to create various layers of polyrhythm.
The exquisite synthesizer led soundscapes shine bright on “Hero Man”, a perplexing track backed by singer/instrumentalist Ella Harris evocative chanting of “Can't eat, can't sleep, can't go to work, I can't leave”.
Harris shares the vocal duties with fellow singer/instrumentalist Josh Baxter, who shares about his troubles with anxiety on “Bunker”, a gloomy synthpop track which again builds its energy on arpeggiator melodies until the pressure is burst with one of the most intense endings on the record.
Another great highlight is “Bad Dad” with its dreamlike synth sound design, cut through with a crushing mono bass line which tears brilliantly through the mix from start to finish. Harris delves into the subject of toxic masculinity and its effect on surrounding subjects, with a performance reminiscent of other spoken word lyricism maestros such as Jenny Hval and Florence Shaw of Dry Cleaning.
Throughout its entirety “Blush” feels like waking up on the most ecstatic of dance floors, with the choice of either getting swept away in the feverish and mesmerizing grooves or to collapse in surrender to the nightmarish aspects of its ambience. PVA are sure to launch the electronic scene back to the forefront of listener’s attention, just where it belongs.
Words by Jay Cohen
