Purelink - Faith (Peak Oil)

It’s highly unlikely that even ardent electronic music fans know who kindtree (Ben Paulson), Millia (Akeem Asani), and Concave Reflection (Tommy Paslaski) are. Partly because they haven’t been around for long and also, apart from Paslaski, because they haven’t released a lot of music, but most electronic music fans certainly now know who their collective endeavour Purelink are.

The trio hit the ground running in 2021 and have been releasing a steady stream of stellar, hazy electronica ever since. They’re also getting better with each passing year and their new album is so good I’m even going to cover it despite the fact that it got a write up in Pitchfork(‘s remains). See, self therapy is a thing.

Bonding whilst scouring musical backwaters in Chicago and refreshingly inspired by Kansas City’s, rather than LA or New York’s underground scenes, the trio have now decamped to New York where they hustle the rent in the day and either soak up or help reshape the city’s music scene by night.

There’s also some pleasing evolutionary progress occurring. The freshmen trio are still learning their trade, but they’re not resting on their laurels and Faith sees them turning up the ambience, submerging the beats further into the atmospheric depths and even adding vocals into the mix.

The album opens in patient style with a cello in mild distress, sounds of unknown provenance and foggy electronics jostling as a rumbling ambient cloud slowly envelopes them, before eventually parting to let in some light, not too much mind, which also reveals a rhythmic rattle from the studio next door until ambient swathes wash everything away and put the track to rest. “Rookie” promises another ambient floater but it’s not long before a languid, somehow aquatic rhythm gives Loraine James a less angular and if you ask me, more suitable cushion for her softly spun vocals. “Kite Scene” ups the tempo to a gentle lollop without breaking a sweat and suggests Berlin’s dub techno scene should take a chill pill, before “Yoke” gives the same crowd the after the after party lullaby they always craved to help them swap the ceiling view for some much needed sleep..

Friend of the familiy Angelina Nonaj then blesses the ambient breezes, warped berimbau and field recordings of “First lota” with a few random diary thoughts in her matter of fact, yet somehow poetic Germanic English before the track floats too close to the sun and evaporates. I was expecting an ambient fade, but the LP’s farewell, “Circle of Dust” sprouts muted beats and even vaguely euphoric synth pads amongst the ambient dubiness, before the track morphs into the soul infused abstract machine haziness that they do better than most.

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Playlist Companion

Find Purelink in the Slowtronic Playlist: