If their synths fell silent and their bleeps dissolved, Canadian electro duo Purity Ring would still have a stage show to sway their crowds like moths to an intergalactic flame.
Singer Megan James – who reputedly sews the clothes which she and bandmate Corin Roddick play in – emerged from the cosmos in a spectacular padded white body suit, a sci-fi heroine armed with the kind of breathy vocals once deployed by another ghostly North American duo, Crystal Castles, to chilling effect.
Coils of white dangled around James in rows from the ceiling, festooned with small lights in a grid of glowing catacombs. Roddick, meanwhile, bashed mighty slabs of wobbling bass out of drums illuminated to resemble lanterns.
In a set lasting barely an hour, most of the songs came from their second album, Another Eternity, released in February with sensibilities closer to pure pop than their debut, Shrines.
The lyrics remain wilfully ambiguous and emotive: tears dripped from drawers and glimmered in the darkness on Heartsigh, sung over a scattergun of beats by a prowling James.
At one point she appeared, apparently howling, against a giant projected moon – a faintly preposterous moment from a pair whose visuals shoot for the stars.
THREE STARS
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article