If you were around for the electropop zeitgeist of the early 2010s, chances are that Purity Ring feature prominently on your nostalgia playlist. And if you were a young adult at that time, well, there’s also a high chance that you played Japanese role-playing games as a teenager – whether that was Chrono Trigger on an SNES or Final Fantasy on a PlayStation. Purity Ring’s new single Many Lives is an attempt to recapture the feeling of the RPG that you discovered as a 12-year-old and immediately made into your whole personality. Inspired by games such as Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star Online and Secret of Mana, it is poised to tug on the heartstrings of fans of a certain vintage.
This is a bold decision for a band who have previously collaborated with Deftones and covered Eurodance classics, but members Megan James and Corin Roddick have the gaming expertise to pull it off. “We’re huge fans of the JRPG genre,” they say, naming Nier: Automata and Final Fantasy X as major influences on the sonic atmosphere of their latest work. “And we’re both currently playing Metaphor: ReFantazio – it’s an incredible fantasy take on the Persona formula.”
Five years after their last studio album and with more than a decade of remixes under their belt, Purity Ring are now fully independent and working under their own imprint, The Fellowship. Their next album, out in September, is described as “the soundtrack to an imagined RPG… the record tells the story of two hapless characters – embodiments of mj and Corin – on a journey to build a kinder world amid the ruins of a broken one.”
The album didn’t start out as an imagined video game soundtrack, but during production they quickly realised where the idea could lead: “There was a sense of traversing an RPG world, of a journey unfolding that felt deeply tied to the sound,” they say. With this concept identified, Many Lives and its b-side, Part II, were born. “Many Lives is the doorway into this imagined world, and its centre – sort of like the place in the beginning of most JRPG games, where the character begins their story.”
The video for Many Lives, with its cel-shaded graphics, was directed by Mike Sunday.
The story here centres around Purity Ring’s real-life experiences during production, as well as “memories and places of terror and comfort” from the duo’s past. “This album is an extension of the dreaming it takes to make actual change,” they say; it explores how games can offer a journey that leads to creative rebirth.
On first listen, what stands out in Many Lives is the haunting voices of the choir, reminiscent of Kenji Kawai’s iconic Ghost in the Shell soundtrack. This eerie intro is accompanied by a high-tempo breakbeat, culminating in a track that feels like watching classic anime while playing Jet Set Radio. Purity Ring aren’t shy about their love for this era. “The Ghost in the Shell soundtrack is such a striking combination with the visuals … it was very memorable to experience that as a kid.” Having revisited the anime for this project, the duo decided to create their new music in its image, citing it alongside the Japanese cult classic game Nier: Automata as an example of music that makes you feel part of the world.
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Canadian electropop duo Purity Ring. Photograph: yuniVERSE
Like Kawai’s soundtrack, Many Lives channels the haunting vocals of Bulgarian folk music alongside James’ vocoded lyrics. Purity Ring aren’t afraid to turn to non-traditional instruments for ideas, claiming they aren’t big gearheads and rarely use hardware synths. “The Legend of Zelda series has always been a major inspiration for us,” they say. “Especially the ocarina music from the N64 titles.” You’ll hear echoes of 1998’s Ocarina of Time in the melody threading through both tracks, like a half-remembered song you’ve not heard for some time.
If the nostalgic vocals and retro Casiotone MT-240 sounds aren’t enough to make you long for the golden age of games, the accompanying video’s cel-shaded graphics emphasise the duo’s love for all things RPG. Directed by Mike Sunday, the video is a GameCube daydream, inspired by “a time that felt like game developers were really embracing style over realism”. It’s Shinjuku meets Hyrule, reminiscent of the opening maps of JRPGs, places that are always beautiful and yet rarely revisited. Purity Ring are fondest of the PS2 and GameCube era, but they pay tribute to the PlayStation Portable too; the UI for their imagined RPG would look at home on several of the handheld’s bestsellers.
For me, Many Lives sounds like afternoons spent playing Baten Kaitos (I’m still hoping for a sequel). For Purity Ring, the tracks “evoke a feeling of past, present and future – a nostalgia for something you’ve never experienced, but somehow still remember”. They’re keen to position this forthcoming album as a new chapter for them, capturing the sound of an era – and chasing the feeling of playing a life-changing game for the first time.
Purity Ring will release their self-titled 4th album on 26 September