VV - The Foreverlost - Single [Review]

"The Foreverlost" is former HIM frontman Ville Valo's third single from his upcoming debut studio album Neon Noir, set to be released on January 13, 2023 under the initialized moniker VV. It follows the 2020 three-track EP Gothica Fennica Vol. 1 (all three songs of which will be featured on the album), "Loveletting" (reviewed here), and "Echolocate Your Love" (reviewed here). "The Foreverlost" sounds like something that you might expect to hear in The Lost Boys, carried primarily by synth and heavy guitar. It reminds me a bit of Billy Idol (whom HIM has actually covered live) but with a heavier, darker, and more gothic edge. My only fault with it really is the same fault that I have with "Loveletting" and "Echolocate Your Love" - I feel that Ville's vocals are not loud enough, drowned out a bit by the instrumental. This, however, seems to be a modern trend amongst rock and metal; Evanescence's 2021 album The Bitter Truth is another example of an album on which that is somewhat of a problem.The song's lyrics are very abstract and poetic - definitely up for interpretation. Ville has offered commentary on the song's meaning, but the only problem is that that, too, is rather abstract: "[It's] yet another loud love song depicting the burlesque butoh between two world-weary souls. All my Carmina Buranas and could've should've would'ves rolled into a neat little Gordian knot of the gothic variety." To put it simply, it's more or less a narrative that Ville has explored plenty in the past via melodious goth tunes ("Join Me in Death"): star-crossed love à la The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.