Single of the Week: Purity Ring – Asido

Well there you have it. As they so cannily teased over the weekend, Purity Ring have indeed come back with a brand new track and music video to go along with it. On their social media, the band have characterised it as a thank-you to their fans, coinciding with the release of their debut album – Shrines. More enticingly, they’ve also confirmed that a new album is indeed in the works.

As for the track itself, it’s restrained, but in that particular Purity Ring way, like seawater folding inwards before a wave breaks. It’s also instantly recognisable as a Purity Ring track from its lyrical content. Not only is Megan James’s voice remarkably distinct, but the lyrics are, well, here are the first few lines:

“From a black widow’s reckoning,

Your fortuitous spine,

Opened up like a marionette,

Danced a whimsical pride.

Lend a hand to the silver blade,

Stir your gut till it pours,

Fill our cups with profanity,

Till the earth is stained orange.”

Not only does it bring Megan James one step closer to fulfilling her dream of naming every bone in the human body in her lyrics, but it represents a songwriting style that Purity Ring have claimed all for themselves. That near-perfect balance of beauty and dread defines them now, both lyrically and musically. The video is also an ideal compliment to the track, directed by James herself and animated by Roxana Bentu, an RCA alumni who, if this is anything to go by, has a very bright future ahead of her.

As for when the new album is likely come out, Purity Ring have made it clear that they’re going “at [their] own pace”. So it could be the end of the year, could be 2018, could be almost anytime, but judging from the quality of this track, which while well rooted in their established style, certainly stands by itself. I’m more than happy to wait for as long as they need to get the LP together, roll out the neon-coated, biomechanical hype train.