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Purity Ring - The Year In Review: Purity Ring - Shrines
Purity Ring : The Year In Review: Purity Ring - Shrines
14th December 2012

“A euphoric treat.” - NME (9/10)
“Makes our skin prickle with pleasure.” - Time Out
"Eleven strange but simple pleasures." - The Fly (4.5/5)
“It doesn’t half get under your skin.” - The Daily Telegraph (4/5)
"Most bands never manage a statement this forceful" - Pitchfork (8.4 BNM)
“The past, present and future of the label are all represented on this beautiful record.” - The Times (4/5)

July 23rd saw the release of Shrines, the debut album by Canadian duo Purity Ring. Despite the band’s young age (Corin is 21, Megan 24) and short gestation (they formed in late 2010), they have delivered one of 2012's most assured albums. 

The record's eleven tracks trace a unique aesthetic universe that is carefully crafted and fully realized, deftly walking the lines between trap-rap exhilaration and airy 90s R&B, lush dream pop and the powerful, bone-rattling immediacy of modern hip hop. Megan’s remarkable voice is at once ecstatic and ethereal, soaring joyfully through Corin’s carefully chopped beats, trembling synths, and skewed vocal samples. It's hardly surprising, then, that Shrines feels like anything but a first record.

The band also made several videos compelling videos throughout the year, for singles 'Belispeak', 'Fineshrine' and 'Lofticries'. Reflecting the intriguing intersection of futurist sonics and the lyrical fascination with the body that runs through the album, each video provided a further glimpse into the enigmatic yet strangely human world of Purity Ring. Watch 'Fineshrine' below.

In October, Corin reworked 'Belispeak' to feature a ferocious new verse by Danny Brown. Brown, who first saw Purity Ring on their summer tour, expressed interest in wanting to work with the band via Twitter and the two then exchanged ideas through email. Brown reimagined 'Belispeak’s' fairy-tale creepiness as an evocative snapshot of his childhood in Detroit, while Roddick reworked the production into a maximalist banger. Listen here.

Having played sold out shows across the world in 2012, Purity Ring tour North America in the new year. All dates are listed below

Buy Shrines - CD/coloured vinyl LP/download
4AD (US)
iTunes

Amazon
HMV
Rough Trade
7 Digital

January 2013
10th - Le National, Montreal, QC                
11th - Webster Hall, New York, NY             
14th - 9:30 Club, Washington, DC            
15th - Ottobar, Baltimore, MD               
17th - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA                 
18th - The Social, Orlando, FL                  
19th - Orpheum, Tampa, FL                    
21st - Maison, New Orleans, LA          
22nd - The Mohawk, Austin, TX                     
23rd - Granada Theatre, Dallas, TX                     
24th - Hi-Tone, Memphis, TN                
25th - Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN               
26th - Orange Peel, Asheville, NC               
28th - Jefferson Theatre, Charlottesville, VA         
29th - Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA
30th - Paradise, Boston, MA                
February
1st - Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON                  

all w/ Young Magic