SHRINES by Purity Ring: the best album of 2012.
While looking through my music library to make a playlist of all my favorite songs from 2012, I began to wonder what I would consider the best album of 2012, and as I unearthed old tunes and memories, I came across Shrines, the debut studio album by the Canadian band Purity Ring. When the album first came out, I was only interested a couple songs on the album, so I decided one day to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, and what a rewarding listen it was. Not only is this album striking in lyrical content and production, but the most interesting thing about Shrines is how ahead of it’s time it was. In today’s music, it is clear that the innovations embedded in Shrines has had a profound influence on current sounds in the industry; from the droning helium like background vocals to the sky scrapping syths, this album never fails to fascinate and define the music characteristics of the 2010's.
On album highlight “Fireshrine”, the track begins with a processed vocal line that glitches between an electronic choking noise to a pulsing moaning as the synthesizers scrape through the opening chords, all the while tinging and clanging until the first lyrics in the song. Once the songs hits the first crescendo, the cooing vocal sounds stop and let the synthesizers take control as they elevate the song to new heights as a trap beat delves the song back into the hypnotic moaning. Vocalist Megan James hops around the track with her girlish voice saying, “Get a little closer let it fold. Cut open my sternum and pull my little ribs around you.” It’s very interesting to note that all the lyrics on Shrines come from excerpts from James’ personal journal about her thoughts, poetry and strange desires.
This album is characterized by many fans as a very commercial Witch House album because of the lyrical content. Witch House is a genre of electronic music that is often occult based with themes of magic and superstition. Because Jones’ lyrics often connect to nature, animal sacrifice and magic, many see the album as a catalyst in an increased interest in the Witch House genre. Because I do listen to some Witch House music, I can only see similarities to the genre in this album rather than labeling the entire project as a hardcore Witch House album.
Witch House uses a variety of dark electronic instrumentation in order to capture a supernatural effect for the listener, and while sometimes the album does ensnare that effect on songs like “Cartographist”, there are definitely quirkier moments that are less morose like the track “Ungirthed”. The song begins with the bright blinking of electronics followed by the quick bursts of a zooming syth and a deeply distorted voice groaning behind the sparkling production. While this song is probably the most pop oriented track on the album, it’s dark cousin “Amenamy” is the antithesis of bright. The song begins with breathier vocal manipulation than it’s predecessors. As the deep droning of the voice moves lower, it sounds almost like a man’s voice. However, as it reaches higher into it’s range, the voice becomes a purely electronic chord. After the introduction of the mysterious voice, the beat drops and fearlessly tears through the dance floor with sharp percussion and glassy flourishes that decorate the track in an oddly ethereal nature.
During the early 2010’s, pop music was stuck in the dubstep era of harsh electronics with industrial bass drops that could be hard to listen to at times. Reflecting on the music of 2016, I have seen a shift from more upbeat dance tracks with relentlessly loud production to a darker, more relaxed and atmospheric sound, and it’s my personal opinion that this new sonic pallet that 2017 craves came from Purity Ring. Instead of conforming to the sugar high the dubstep era was injecting into our ears, Purity Ring created a masterpiece that took those elements and made them darker and more detailed in order to create a more refined, original and innovative sound that has influenced artists like Kiiara to delve deeper into the darker facets of pop music. The most obvious contribution this album has given pop’s new sonic pallet is the manipulated vocal runs. If there is any band out there who can make these strange vocals come to life in different bursts of musical color, it is Purity Ring. Their formula for creating alien soundscapes out of voices is uncanny and the depth of skill it took to place those voices where they are and to blend them with electronics is truly remarkable.
For an album made 5 years ago, Shrines has never felt more contemporary and finally exists in the music market they indirectly created through their creative minds. All we can hope for is more innovation from this duo who has the ability to create a sound all their own and willingly share that sound with the world.
