Musicians and fragrance makers use different senses but share the same goal: capturing a vibe. And if there is one thing Pharrell Williams understands, it is how to capture a vibe. (If you doubt that, please put down this magazine, play the song “Happy” and reacquaint yourself with reality.)

So when you hear that the idea behind his debut fragrance for Louis Vuitton was to bottle the scent of the sun, it doesn’t sound quite as off-the-wall as it might coming from someone with a more literal approach to the world. Master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud clearly saw the potential, working with Williams to distil an amorphous concept into something you can smell by focusing on the process of photosynthesis.

“It may sound abstract, but if you look at life, photosynthesis is the starting point for everything,” Belletrud says in discussing the new scent, LVERS. He and Williams lean heavily on an ingredient called galbanum, a Persian plant resin that smells, in a word, “green”—almost overwhelmingly so. Imagine the rainforest floor just as the light cuts through the canopy, burning off the mist and bringing everything to life, and you’ve got the idea.

Cedar and sandalwood anchor the fragrance in the impression of tree trunks warming in the sunlight, while bergamot and ginger give it a fruity, zesty top note that fills the nose at first spritz but dries down to something more subtle (and just a little sexy, too). The scent speaks to the overall feeling Williams is cultivating as creative director of Louis Vuitton Men’s—something open and optimistic, opulent yet not ostentatious.

You can even see it in the bottle, which filters the golden-hour hue of the eau de parfum itself through a prismatic finish. Watch the colours dancing off the surface, spray the liquid on your skin, and there it is, clear as day: a vibe, perfectly captured.