In one of those strange little cosmic twists that come up in life every so often, I found myself reminiscing about Canadian dream-spinners Purity Ring yesterday – lamenting their disappearance following the release of their brilliant 2015 album Another Eternity. Indeed, it’s felt like an eternity since they graced us with their immersive concoction of ultra-intricate dream pop productions.
My daydreams of new Purity Ring seemed to have been well received by the ethereal realm they draw their power from, as later that day it was announced that WOMB, their first album in five years, is due to be released on April 3 via 4AD (who are they already killing it with their releases this year, by the way). The album’s release will be supported by an extensive tour of North America this spring, followed by a series of headlining shows in Europe.
As if all that wasn’t good enough, we’ve also been treated to the first single off of WOMB, “stardew,” which can be listened to below:
“stardew” finds Purity Ring in top otherworldly form. It’s a super catchy tune, leaning hard into 80s synthpop vibes – perfect for a ride down a long stretch of road beneath a blue sky with the windows down. It’s a pulsing track, more so than what we’ve grown accustomed to on Another Eternity. I look forward to hearing how the rest of the new album’s identity shapes up come April.
See the full tracklist and surrealist artwork by Tallulah Fontaine for WOMB below:
1. rubyinsides
2. pink lightning
3. peacefall
4. i like the devil
5. femia
6. sinew
7. vehemence
8. silkspun
9. almanac
10. stardew
Here’s the full list of announced dates for Purity Ring’s upcoming tours:
May 3rd – Van Buren, Phoenix, AZ
May 4th – Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ
May 7th – ACL Live, Austin, TX
May 8th – Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
May 9th – White Oak Music Hall, Houston, TX
May 11th – Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
May 12th – Anthem, Washington, DC
May 13th – Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA
May 15th – Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn, NY
May 16th – Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn, NY
May 18th – House of Blues, Boston, MA
May 20th – Phoenix, Toronto, ON, Canada
May 23rd – Lightning in a Bottle Fest, Bakersfield, CA
May 26th – Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL
May 27th – Liberty Theatre, Lawrence, KS
May 28th – Mission, Denver, CO
May 29th – Ogden Twilight, Ogden, UT
May 30th – Knitting Factory, Boise, ID
June 1st – Knitting Factory, Spokane, OR
June 2nd – The Paramount, Seattle, WA
June 3rd – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
June 4th – Roseland Ballroom, Portland, OR
June 5th – McDonald Theatre, Eugene, OR
June 7th – Fox Theatre, Oakland, CA
June 10th – Observatory North Park, San Diego, CA
June 11th – The Palladium, Los Angeles, CA
July 18th – Latitude Festival, Suffolk, UK
September 4th – Nalen, Stockholm, Sweden
September 5th – Parkteatret, Oslo, Norway
September 7th – Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, Denmark
September 8th – Columbia Theatre, Berlin, Germany
September 9th – Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
September 11th – Chalk, Brighton, UK
September 12th – O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK
September 13th – SWG3, Glasgow, UK
September 15th – Trabendo, Paris, France
September 16th – Botanique, Brussels, Belgium
September 17th – SWX, Bristol, UK
September 18th – Roundhouse, London, UK