Gary Steel
THIS CANADIAN DUO is yet another iteration of the boy/girl (boy equals producer, girl equals singer) cliché, but don’t let that turn you off. Their appropriation of the ‘80s dreamscapes of fellow 4AD label-mates the Cocteau Twins is subtle, and just right, but it’s that slightly otherworldly quality, when combined with contemporary hip-hop and teen pop techniques and then twisted around by lyrics that ooze with bodily fluids, that turns it into something special.
Megan James has the kind of high, cute voice that will polarise opinion, and isn’t averse to a bit of autotuning should the song require it. Corin Roddick, on the other hand, is a one-man synth-pop orchestra, churning out twinkly star-clusters one moment and faux-dubstep modulations the next.
Very occasionally, they’re a smeared mirror held up to our own the Naked & Famous, and most of the time on Shrines, they’re worth sinking your senses in. GARY STEEL
Sound = 3.5/5
Music = 3.5/5
PURITY RING – SHRINES (4AD/Rhythmethod) CD REVIEW
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