Live Review: Purity Ring, Headaches & Tincture

Rumbling bass and skewed vocal samples throb from the PA as Tincture builds his set; downbeat electro melding into heavier rhythms, then dropping back again as he introduces his own vocals into the mix. It's a brand new aspect of his music, and he admits tonight is the first time he's sung with an audience. While the vocals don't add a lot, they're also not the negative that could have entailed and the new tracks are still world-class. He deserves a later slot, an audience there for his beats, and with an EP arriving soon his time may not be far off.

Headaches is off on a plane in the morning, back to America, but for now he's here to entertain, exhorting the crowd to party and rave in a brief, friendly introduction. Bass pounds, becomes a physical sensation, before the music takes a step up-tempo, cymbal clashes skittering side-to-side while arpeggios roll and a 4/4 beat calls for movement; elements of Detroit techno threaded with more recent trends of intricate layering. Unfortunately the crowd seems largely unmoved, content to stand and watch and wait for the main attraction. Multiple technical glitches end up marring the set, a shame because when the music is running it's great, but the pauses in sound break the building mood.

It's an impressive stage setup for Purity Ring. Dangling chrysalis lights hang behind the duo, an appropriate choice given their lyrical themes of physical change, and Corin Roddick plays out melodies on combo light/sound boxes that glow briefly when struck giving a unique spark to the visuals. The opening few tracks, including single Belispeak, make a powerful start, but there's something subtly off in the mix: trebles too high and bass too low, lending a slightly painful note to the tracks and lessening the threatening presence of the songs.

Four or five songs into the set, the mix settles and the quality of the pair comes into clearer focus. Megan James' voice, still smothered in effects, is spot on, falsetto high notes hit and saccharine innocence counterpointing the music's now appropriate tension. There are subtle, but noticeable shifts to every track as they play. Some changes are great, increasing the energy, while others are middling, fracturing tightly constructed melodies without gaining any real improvements. Even when they don't entirely work though, it's nice to see Purity Ring shying away from the trap of note-perfect representation that their genre can bring.

The crowd cheers loudly within the first few bars of each single, and while there's something weird about hearing the audience sing along passionately to music so resolutely fractured, it's a sign of the pop quality of the songs and witness to Brisbane's familiarity with and fondness for Purity Ring.