Purity Ring's debut album, all the way back from 2012, is a fantastic electronic pop album. It has a very dark and moody sound all throughout, and lyrics that are vulnerable and use imagery of the human body that sometimes goes far enough into gory territory that it could be described as body horror.
Electronic music has always been something of an iffy genre for me, the stuff that I like I love but I often find myself underwhelmed by the majority of the genre. That's absolutely not the case here, as it the music has this atmosphere that I just can't help but get lost in. The production is flawless, without ever really stepping into overproduction, and the vocal deliveries are a perfect match for the music with lyrics that really perfect the mood that everything else has already created.
I first heard about Purity Ring through 25 Bucks by Danny Brown, which features Purity Ring's vocalist. After listening to this album I also have a newfound appreciation for that song, where Megan James was really in her element and Danny Brown absolutely chose the right artist to feature.
The first song of the album, crawlersout, is already notable from the title alone. All along this album, song titles are only a single word and in the cases where they needed multiple words, they got combined into one. It's got something of a slow buildup which is a perfect introduction to what's overall a slow album, but at no point does it get boring. The vocals are haunting in a way that keeps me intently listening, and the heavy use of imagery that I would soon learn is just Megan James' style had me immediately hooked.
Moving to fineshrine, the album starts to get a lot more upbeat and peppy. This is the song I would point anyone to if they were interested in listening to Purity Ring, as it's very catchy and features everything that I've grown to love about this band. Here we find what are the best examples of Megan James' lyrical style focusing on body parts with lyrics such as "cut open my sternum and pull my little ribs around you." The lyrics are an interesting take on a love song, with them still being gory but being touching in a way that contrasts perfectly with the word choice.
Ungirthed was one of the weaker songs in my opinion, with me feeling like the instrumental and the lyrics are somewhat fighting with each other. I found the vocal delivery a little bit tedious, and the lyrics themselves weren't nearly as impressive as the other songs on the album. I did enjoy the instrumental, and it's got exactly enough liveliness in it while still being slow and somewhat disconnected to create a feeling of eeriness.
Amenamy is one of the more somber songs on the album, an extremely vulnerable story about losing a friend that she loved dearly. The instrumental is full of really spacey synths and the vocals are even more ethereal than the rest of the album, which really conveys the mood even if you don't pay attention to the lyrics. When you do, however, you hear pleas of pain for her friend to wake up, seemingly still not having accepted the fact that the loss had happened.
Moving to grandloves we find what is probably the weakest song on the album. It's not without things to love, but I really think that the feature served only to weaken the song and I think this album would have been better without any features. I don't like Young Magic's vocal performance on the song, and I think that this is also one of Megan James' weaker ones. The lyrics are fine, nothing that really stood out to me, however the instrumental is fantastic and is actually one of my favorites on the project.
The next track, cartographist, is just a little bit forgettable in my opinion. It doesn't do a whole lot that the other songs on the album don't already do better, and while I don't mind listening to it when it comes on I've never found myself wanting to go back to it on its own.
Belispeak, in contrast, is a phenomenal song. It comes swinging right out the gate with a very punchy and upbeat instrumental and extremely fascinating vocals with a slight distortion on them that makes them just inhuman enough while still feeling familiar. The lyrics are probably my favorite on the entire project, being a story about a child losing their innocence and experiencing new things in the world while their parents watch. The lyrics portray a bit of a strained relationship where the parents are uncomfortable with the child growing up and the child still wanting to have a relationship with them, which as a young adult is an extremely relatable issue and made this song something I was able to really strongly connect with. This is one of my favorite electronic songs in general already, and it's been in heavy rotation ever since I first listened to the album.
The next song, saltkin, is one I'm not entirely sure how to feel about, sometimes I love it and sometimes I don't. I do think the chorus is a little bit weak and the repetition is very easy to notice and grow tired of. The verses are pretty fantastic, and the instrumental likes to cut different tracks in and out to create an experience that's constantly keeping me on my toes even after multiple listens.
The closing few tracks are some of the strongest on the project, with obedear being probably their most approachable song and one of the biggest hits from the project. It's one of the most energetic, with a very fast paced tempo relative to the rest of the album, and vocals that are chopped up perfectly to serve as something of another instrument rather than the focal point of the song. However, in the chorus, the vocals quickly come to the forefront and it's really unforgettable, as well as super catchy, and if I had to choose only one favorite song from the album, this would be the one.
Lofticries is a fun song that likes to quiet down and louden at different times, which I've found myself somewhat drifting into a trance listening to and getting jerked out of very strongly. The lyrics are some of the most vulnerable on the album, with James singing about the ways that her parents had hurt her throughout her childhood and the ways that she wants to be able to take control over that abuse and still be her own person. Along with belispeak, this song was deeply relatable to me, and helps me feel a lot less alone in a situation where I'm also struggling to be my own person after the manipulation I faced growing up.
To close the album we have shuck, a very quiet and slow song with minimal lyrics and a minimal instrumental. There isn't too much to note about this song, as it feels more like an outro than it does a song you would go back to listen to. However, it gives your brain a perfect couple of minutes to decompress from the album that you just listened to, and really helps to make this album feel like a complete idea that's been finished in the way the artists wanted.
Overall, I was extremely impressed with this album, and it's now my favorite electronic project to listen to. There are a couple of slightly weaker moments, but nothing that really feels bad to listen to, and I think that the band's style is very unique and I highly recommend anyone who likes electronic music or anything more gothic to check it out. I give it an 8 out of 10.