Purity Ring
December 14, 2014
Last week Kim Kardashian may have broken the Internet, but this week Purity Ring shattered the electronic music scene. The two-part synthpop duo released an original song and video titled “Push Pull” for the first time, after a two year hiatus—and it doesn’t live up to the suspense.
Purity Ring, after releasing their first album titled Shrines in 2012, grew wildly popular among both indie and techno crowds. The dreamy, bright vocals of lead singer Megan James paired with the layered, complex beats produced by Corin Roddick were unlike anything before. They took a futuristic take on the electro sound while writing old-fashioned, even Shakespearean lyrics. The Canadian pair jump-started a whole new branch of electronic music, and many agree that no spin off group could compare.
This is why after two years of only producing an occasional cover or featuring in another artist’s song, Purity Ring fans were driven mad. Listeners were hungry for new music but lost hope that any was on its way. Rumors began to spread that Purity Ring was a one album wonder— needless to say, this surprise song being released was monumental.
Unfortunately, their new take on sound innovation felt like an auto-tuned disaster. The single “Push Pull” turned out to be way more pop than electro, and though the beautiful video and fit the theme of their sound, it couldn’t make up for the mediocre beat or dull progression.
The best way to describe Purity Ring’s single is if Owl City and Ellie Goulding collaborated with Katy Perry’s DJ and produced a mainstream song for the radio. They seem to be making their way towards the channel 95.5 and out of electronic fans’ hearts.