Very rarely in the annals of electronic pop does a debut album arrive as fully formed and carefully realised as Shrines, from Montreal-based duo Purity Ring, does.
Released in July of last year, this gorgeous concoction of delicate rhythms, surreal soundscapes, dream-like hazed vocals, RnB-infused beats, and labyrinthine melodies was one of the most impressive and emotionally satisfying debuts in recent memory.
Made up of singer Megan James and instrumentalist Corin Roddick, Purity Ring is a thinker’s band that ably marries soulful lyrics with meandering, yet pointedly precise music.
It’s absolutely no surprise that they were immediately signed to legendary record label 4AD, and that Shrines itself made many year-end best-of lists.
Roddick, on the phone from his home in the capital of Quebec, sounds pleasantly surprised by all the fuss – but at the same time, not really.
“When we first started the band,” he reckons, “I had this dream, this ambition of doing [music] full-time, but this wasn’t anything that we had expected to happen to us,” he begins. “Ever since [Shrines] was picked up by 4AD … it’s been absolutely surreal – but at the same time it feels like I wouldn’t have had this any other way.”
“Just… like, it feels very natural,” he concludes earnestly.
“It was the first time I had a three-minute piece of music that felt had a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was significant for me.”
James and Roddick had met a ways back – Roddick’s not sure exactly how – in Edmonton, Alberta’s close-knit music and arts community. Not being very close to anything else, he explains, everybody who’s doing their particular “thing” who are somewhat relatable will “end up meeting at some point” in that relatively isolated city.
Roddick had been playing around with electronic production for a few months, with the idea of potentially “doing something” with James having gestated in his mind for some time.
“I’d never really finished a track or anything like that,” he says plainly. “I just had little ideas here and there, but I had a little trouble finishing stuff. I still have trouble finishing stuff!” he laughs loudly.
But clarity of vision and surety of craft resulted in what would become the track ‘Ungirthed’ on Purity Ring’s debut. “I think its instrumentals are the first song I ever finished,” declares Roddick.
“It was the first time I had a three-minute piece of music that felt had a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was significant for me – I passed it on to Megan, and it all came together spontaneously!”
Megan James’ lyrics, which come from her “endless stockpile” of journals she’s been keeping for years, are a perfect match for Roddick’s carefully thought-out and crafted compositions. He is crystal-clear when he explains the process of putting together their music.
“We’re very careful and selective about every element we add,” he says. “Anything we add has to sound like it absolutely has to be there. There can’t be anything extra, or anything left out!”
A pop perfectionist, Roddick states that the balance is the all-important facet through which he concocts his pieces. “I don’t like having anything cluttered, or anything over-the-top,” he says emphatically. “I also don’t like it when things sound under-produced; I just really strive to find the balance, where you don’t have a whole bunch of things going on, but you have just enough!”
When it comes to the lyrical content or the poetry of the song titles – ‘Ungirthed’, ‘Belispeak’, and ‘Crawlersout’ are examples, all of which sound as if they could have come from an EE Cummings book of poetry – these are the realm of Ms. James who, Roddick says, “has her intended melodies planted firmly in her head.”
So, how do his pieces come together? The Candian mentions that the all-important balance in a track is paramount – so how does he know when a song is finished?
He pauses briefly, trying to find the right word to explain. “I think some people get an idea in their head and then they’ll sit down and work on it,” he says with a deep breath. “But that never really happens to me, I never feel like I’ve got ideas I ‘need to get out’.”“Anything we add has to sound like it absolutely has to be there. There can’t be anything extra, or anything left out!”
“I sit down with the intention of making music,” he details, “and I’ll just pluck around on different things,” he laughs. “Sometimes I’ll just pull up a synthesizer and hit random notes for hours, until I find some sounds that fit nicely together! And then I’ll change the synth sound.”
“Songwriting for me goes very slowly… but I am getting faster at it though,” he concludes with a giggle.
What does it all mean, in the end? What is it that Purity Ring hopes to bring to the world? Shrines has already won hearts the world over, and there’s something mystifying and magical about their music that has captured imaginations like nothing else in recent memory.
Roddick laughs nervously, admitting that he’d never been asked such a question before.
He slowly winds into his response, “hmm, I guess it would be to give people some form of… release,” he says finally.
“People could listen to our music for one song or multiple songs – and hopefully listen for that period of time and forget whatever else is in their life, whether it’s good or it’s bothering them. And just be able to enjoy the melodies and sounds.”
He pauses for a moment, and says rather brightly, “People do want some form of release.”
Shrines is out now through 4AD/Remote Control. Purity Ring play Golden Plains Lucky Seven this March 9-11, lineup and details here, and play a short Australian Tour ahead of their appearance at the festival. Dates below.
Purity Ring 2013 Australian Tour
Wednesday 6 March 2013 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Tickets on sale via Moshtix.
Friday 8 March 2013 – Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Tickets on sale now via Corner Box Office.
Sunday 10 March 2013 – The Zoo, Brisbane
Tickets on sale via Oztix.
