Purity Ring

Even the most sophisticated and forward thinking musicians aren’t immune from having a ridiculous band name, it seems. The members of Purity Ring, all two of them, met while playing in a band called Gobble Gobble, and I think it’s a testament to their commitment to playing music that they were OK with performing under a moniker like that. The duo came together while on tour in that band, when Roddick began experimenting with electronic soundscapes and beat making as a way of passing the time.

He created a track that he was particularly proud of called “Ungirthed” and asked James to sing on it, they were so taken with the track that they decided to keep working together, naming themselves Purity Ring in the process. In January 2011 they released “Ungirthed” as a single to widespread critical acclaim, however unlike most other electronic artists out there they took their time with future releases, only releasing one other single, a split with the band Braids, and two remixes during the rest of 2011. It may not have been much but it was enough for alternative music legends 4AD to sign them in early 2012, making them label mates with The National, Deerhunter and Grimes.

The duo’s first officially released single, “Obedear” came out in April of the same year, and by July, their debut album had been released as well. “Shrines” was a commercial and critical success, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Albums Chart and reaching the albums of the year list of everyone from Pitchfork to the NME and Stereogum. In July 2013 the album was nominated for that year’s Polaris Music Prize and since then, Purity Ring have been one of the hottest properties in alternative music.

They’ve worked with everyone from Danny Brown to Ab-Soul, done an official remix of Lady Gaga’s “Applause” and the only way left for them is up. With their second album “Another Eternity”, coming in March, Purity Ring stand a chance of making a mainstream breakthrough the likes of which we haven’t seen since their label mate Bon Iver became one of the biggest names in music a couple of years back. That’s a massively exciting prospect, and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving band, highly recommended.