As the trio Purelink, Chicago producers Millia Rage, Kindtree, and Concave Reflection explore the seams joining ambient music and dance. The tracks on Purelink’s 2021 Bliss/Swivel EP float like their rhythms are on the edge of dissolving (“Maintain the Bliss”) or transform the hyperactive sounds of drum ‘n’ bass into ghostly apparitions (“Head on a Swivel”); the EP’s tantalizingly unpredictable texture and tone made it one of my favorite releases of that year. I’m just as enamored with their debut full-length, Puredub (Lillerne Tapes). Purelink savor the slow tapering of echoes, and on “Rest Thru” they map gated, skeletal drum loops onto hazy synths in a bejeweled, hypnotizing matrix. In Purelink’s hands, “ambient” means more than a pleasant, ignorable audio wallpaper—they inject it with drama and energy without disrupting its serenity, encouraging people to dance as well as to relax. On “Spirit & Sport,” the sounds of chiming bells and gently rattling chains flutter in and out of the mix, enhancing the song’s tranquil mood—they’re one of many ways Purelink can, well, maintain the bliss.
Purelink’s Puredub is available through Bandcamp.
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