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Purity Ring made their dazzling emergence in 2011 with the refined debut Shrines, part of the same Canadian electronic school that gave us Grimes and Majical Cloudz. The duo have dubbed their sound “future pop”, a name firmly supported by their progressive sound of dense, stuttering synths from Corin Roddick accompanied by the delicately morbid voice of Megan James. Sadly, their newest release, Another Eternity, sees them step backwards towards the past, abandoning much of what made their original sound so exciting. The beats are workmanlike and largely unmemorable, having lost the dynamism and sudden shifts in tone and texture that were once their hallmark. Songs like Begin Again sound like they were designed with the dancefloor in mind, but it is as if the duo sought to achieve this by simplifying their sound at the expense of the eccentric aural treats sprinkled throughout Shrines. This is bigger, but less bold. Similarly James’ vocal melodies adhere more closely to standard pop structures, ranging from pleasant at the best points to plain dull on songs like Stranger Than Earth. The structure of Sea Castle seems to exemplify the problems with the album as a whole. While the chorus contains a moment of genuine greatness — a thrilling bass wobble overlaid with a provocative wail from James — it doesn’t connect with the plodding piano line that forms the rest of the song. There are many great snippets of melody that crop up throughout, but they’re not implemented properly and fail to satisfy.

The lyrics however remain true to the same mysterious-menacing vibe, conjured by oblique phrases and almost gruesome imagery. The best tunes, Bodyache and Dust Hymn, sound like they could be solid supporting tracks on Shrines. The rest sound like a regression, rather than progression in songwriting ability, aiming at mainstream and arriving at mundane. The novelty of Purity Ring’s sound has worn off and they have unfortunately not provided the substance to maintain the hype. Rather than embodying the sound of the future, Another Eternity sounds dated on release.