"In the five years that they've been active, it sometimes seems as if Purelink are dissolving right before our eyes. They've never again released anything quite as corporeal or propulsive as their debut EP, which paired visceral dub techno with rolling drum'n'bass. On their 2023 debut album, , glitchy drums crackled in a pastel haze, and last year's was even more ethereal; the trio's individual identities melted together under cover of amorphous arrangements that suggested fogbanks, blizzards, and other zero-visibility conditions."
"Anyone who has seen Purelink live, however, knows how much physical heft they're capable of conjuring-a bold, bassy throb that sets bodies in motion even in the absence of obvious dance-music signifiers. Their sets may begin in the muggy tropics of their recorded work, but they turn into full-on affairs. A new live cassette stakes out a position somewhere in the middle of Purelink's opposing tendencies, balancing their ambient inclinations with heavyweight bass and some surprisingly forceful rhythms."
Purelink have evolved from visceral dub techno and drum'n'bass toward glitchy, pastel-hazed, and ethereal textures that dissolve individual identities into amorphous arrangements evoking fogbanks and blizzards. Live performances reveal a contrasting physical heft: a bold, bassy throb that propels bodies even without typical dance-music signifiers. The new live cassette balances ambient inclinations with heavyweight bass and forceful rhythms, drawing from discrete moments of the 2024 U.S. tour. Its collaged structure favors mixtape-like drift over reproducing a single show's forward arc. Side A opens with nearly eight minutes of shifting ambience that intensifies into thudding kick patterns and dubby delay chains.
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