PURELINK - Faith

Two albums were enough to catapult Purelink among the brightest presences in the ambient dub underground: an ecosystem that draws on IDM and downtempo, shaping an imaginary that revisits the chillout rooms of the Nineties within the dim embrace of one's own bedroom ("Kite Scene"). The trio embodies a hazy poetics, made of suspensions and silky reverbs: amid dilated harmonies and velvety transients, it almost feels like listening to instruments that whisper rather than play. "Faith", released on Peak Oil, is the collective's second album, following the excellent "Signs" from 2023, a genuine daydream in which the listener floats among layers of synthetic clouds.

Kindred in spirit to artists like Pontiac Streator and Mu Tate, the trio remains faithful to its hushed handwriting. The formula stays intact in its elegance: zen-toned contemplations, a sort of digital new age for introverted spirits, steeped in a love for the most delicate strain of hypermodernity: as on "First Iota", where poet Angelina Nonaj whispers "Not everything beautiful has to be real" over an interplay of guitar and ambient waves. Perhaps leaner than previous works, the flow moves with an essential motion.

Amid the fumes of an ethereal lounge, the vocal feature on "Rookie" stands out: Loraine James's contribution settles over watery beats with the ease of a lullaby, recorded separately and slotted into the track without mediation. "Yoke" and "Circle of Dust" offer the instrumental counterweight, with deep basses pulsing beneath layers of glitch and dub. It's true the album doesn't reinvent the formula, but if there's one thing the trio has taught us, it's that every sound they touch manages to dissolve into a muffled enchantment.

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13/06/2025