PURITY RING RELEASE FIRST NEW LP IN 5 YEARS WITH 'WOMB'
Canadian house electronic duo Purity Ring have come back from a 5 year silence with their third LP Womb this April. In the last decade, the 2010s, they were critically acclaimed by many publications. Pitchfork titled them, "a definitive time capsule for the sound of 2012" based on their 2012 album Shrines. Their impact was surely not unnoticed. 2015 saw the duo come back with their definitive mystical house sound in Another Eternity. They were shortlisted for Canada's Polaris Music Prize, which in Canada is a big deal, next to the Junos. Their songs during the 2010s made their appearances in a few TV shows, cementing them in that time period. After Another Eternity, the duo kept quiet until now.
In 2020, the group makes a haunting, earthy, and quieter return in Womb. They also give you everything you love from Purity Ring: Megan James' entrancing, soothing, child-like vocals, whispy and twinkly sounds, and beats that are so pleasant they could play all day in your head.
The strongest theme of this album is the elements of the Earth. The lyrics are filled with a lot of imagery of water and how it interacts with the narrator. There are feelings that identify with the feeling of the motion of the oceans, the secrecy of the depths of the sea, and the overwhelming emotion associated with drowning. Examples can be seen in “pink lightning”:
“Warm water rises / It still feels like I can't stop crying / Hold me inside it/ Still feels like the storm's not dying."
Another in “silkspun”:
"I saw the bottom of the ocean / My pores would pour my soul down there / (Kick it up and keep it under)"
Also in “femia”:
“All of the water seeped up /Carrying sickness creeped up /While you were sleeping, sleeping /You woke in a sea of dark liquid.”
Another theme in this album is bodily senses. For example in the song “sinew” words like “breathing”, “swallowing”, “damp hair”, and “chest heaving” are used. It gives the listener a vision to what the narrator has for the sounds of this album. The words in this album give such cool (temperature-wise), intimate imagery. The poeticism of the lyrics are brilliant. The writing creates such an effortless flow when sung, simultaneously sounding like free-writing feelings of a teenage girl with Shakespeare romanticism and structure.
The beats on this album versus their two previous LPs are more relaxed and don’t pack as much of a pang to dance to, but more of a pop to bop to. They take a step away from some trap sounds, and move to a lo-fi feeling. Overall their sound is wonderfully consistent with the rest of their catalog.
The first single released from Womb in February, "stardew", still remains a high favourite from the record. I would also highlight "i like the devil" for it's clever rhymes, "silkspun" being the peppiest song on the record, and "almanac" for being the most diverse in structure.
Fans of Purity Ring will find absolutely no disappointment here. It’s a throwback feeling to the sounds of the 2010s with new material, but a fresh batch of songs for new fans to find.