Purity Ring's Self-Titled Odyssey and the Quest for a Kinder Sound
The world of electronic music, often characterized by its ephemeral trends and ever-shifting sonic landscapes, has long found a steadfast beacon in Purity Ring. The trailblazing duo, known for their distinctive blend of ethereal electronics and evocative imagery, has just announced a significant new chapter: a self-titled LP, set to drop on September 26, 2025, via a new label, "the fellowship." This announcement arrives alongside a sprawling 23-date North American headline tour and a new single, "place of my own," a track that serves as both a preview and a spell, offering a glimpse into their evolving artistic vision.
"place of my own" is, in essence, a euphoric, pulsating trance anthem, designed to transport the listener outside of time and place. The lyrics, "all i want is a place of my own / some way to be alone," function as a mantra over the duo's signature blissful synth melodies. The song's imagery, with disappearing places like "where the ocean’s gleaming off the sky" and "where the cliffside calls," evokes a melancholic yearning for belonging on a planet in flux. It’s a track that delivers the glimmering satisfaction long associated with Purity Ring, yet it lingers with a pervasive sense of slipping away, a quiet elegy for what might be lost. The band noted that the song came into being with "ease and immediacy," a reflection of a "hazy forest in the mountains," a desire to build places of refuge and hope through carefully chosen steps.
This self-titled fourth album marks a bold departure for Purity Ring, moving from their established fusion of body horror imagery and ethereal electronics to a focus on the fantastical. The LP is envisioned as a concept album, explicitly framed as the soundtrack to an imagined RPG. Drawing inspiration from games like Nier Automata and Final Fantasy X, the record tells the story of two "hapless characters"—embodiments of mj and Corin—on a quest to construct a kinder world from the ruins of a broken one. This isn't mere escapist fantasy; it's described as "the first step of forbidden dreaming," an act of imagining a space where vulnerability is acknowledged, grief is shared, and hope can blossom. The tracklist itself hints at this narrative depth, with titles like "relict," "memory ruins," "Imanocean," and "broken well," alongside deeply personal inclusions such as "glacier ::in memory of rs::."
Purity Ring's history is deeply intertwined with musical innovation. Their first three albums, including the critically acclaimed Shrines (which earned Pitchfork’s Best New Music honors and a Polaris Prize shortlisting), were released on the legendary label 4AD. Their breakout track "Fineshrine" achieved gold certification in the U.S., and "Grandloves" was notably sampled by Playboi Carti on his Die Lit track "Fell In Love." In recent years, they've continued to demonstrate their versatility, remixing "Knife Prty" for the 20th-anniversary reissue of Deftones’ White Pony and collaborating with industrial pop duo Black Dresses on the track "Shines."
The upcoming "Place Of My Own" tour is set to translate this immersive vision into a live experience. Kicking off on October 13 in Ventura, CA, the tour will traverse North America, hitting major markets like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City before concluding in Los Angeles on November 12. The band has expressed palpable excitement about returning to the road after a few years away, noting that "Each album gives us a chance to build a unique and immersive visual show, and this time we’re working on what might be our most ambitious stage design yet." It's a promise of a live spectacle designed to bring the album's conceptual world to vivid life, inviting audiences to step fully into the vast, unrestrained vision that Corin and mj have been circling for years. This next era of self-released music from Purity Ring promises to be their most authentic and expansive yet, a true testament to artists confidently stepping into their own.
