Shrines
A year and a half after Purity Ring surfaced with the song "Ungirthed", the young Edmonton, Alberta, duo has released a proper debut, a compulsively listenable collection of dubbed-out retro-futuristic indie pop. Shrines is not about range, offering instead subtly different versions of a single, near-perfect idea.
On the surface, Purity Ring is a sleek pop act with an ear for the weird. Corin Roddick’s off-kilter instrumentals—warm washes of synths, chopped and pitch-shifted vocal samples, and skittish, hyperactive beats—envelope Megan James’ wistful coo to create a set of remarkable, accessible tunes. Tracks like the jittery,…
The reflexive eye-rolling and collective sighing of "oh, can't we do better than this" that happens whenever someone raises…
While whimsical, female-voiced electronic pop was all the rage when Purity Ring's debut album Shrines was released, the duo still managed to stand out from the crowd.
Where Grimes' work is all about ambiguity – half-heard phrases, synths and vocals drenched in reverb and effects – fellow Canucks Purity Ring offer a vision of synth pop which is clear and polished as crystal. Corin Roddick's productions incorporate the sugar-sweet melodies and dynamics of R&B and pop, with a liberal use of side-chained beats and synths, evoking bands like Blackbird Blackbird, but also evolving the neo-synth sound into something absolutely unique.
Purity Ring frontwoman Megan James once revealed to Under the Radar, partially tongue-in-cheek, that her primary influences were "the five elements of nature."
The Canadian boy-girl duo’s debut is a whirl of delicate dream pop, fuelled by Corin Roddick’s chopped hip-hop beats and Megan James’ coquettish vocal stylings.
The Canadian duo's twitchy dream-pop invites comparisons with Björk and Fever Ray, writes <strong>Ally Carnwath</strong>
When Corin Roddick lays off the sequencer buttons, as he does on “Shuck,” the results are hypnotic, rhythmic, and effortless.
Montreal duo Purity Ring match synth-pop swirls with oddly catchy tunes, and deliver them with a joyous glee, writes <strong>Dave Simpson</strong>