Finding a ‘place of our own’ with Purity Ring at The Novo DTLA

November 12, 2025 – Los Angeles

Three years after the release of their albums graves and tenth-anniversary release shrines X, Edmonton electronic duo Purity Ring returned with a self-titled album on September 26. This latest album is a sprawling, imaginative journey through cyber-fantasy soundscapes, glitchy synths, breakcore, and otherworldly electronic pop. This latest record feels like them truly laying themselves bare, not subscribing to a singular genre, while inviting listeners to openly wander into what their new musical universe has to offer. It still carries the band’s signature style, but it very much sounds like it could be the score to a full-length feature film or an RPG. On November 12, they brought that universe to life at the Novo in Downtown Los Angeles for the final show of their “place of our own” tour, giving the audience the chance to fully inhabit their wonderfully weird world once again.

Photography by Carissa Leong (IG: @carissalphoto.cr2)

In a world where electronic duos like Magdalena Bay, after, and frou frou are having a moment in the mainstream listeningscape, Purity Ring remains true to their own sound. I had first found out about Purity Ring following their breakout 2012 album shrines. It was actually the album that got me into electronic pop as a young fleshling growing up in the advent of the internet. Even then, there was a heavy fantasy influence to their overall aesthetic, blending the familiar with the celestial all at once. I hadn’t been expecting a self-titled album — or a tour — but once I sat with the record, it immediately made sense that this was the one they chose to name after themselves: deeply cohesive, yet still leaving plenty of room for them to keep evolving.

Photography by Carissa Leong (IG: @carissalphoto.cr2)

The show opened with Indonesian-Australian electronic pop artist yuniVERSE, performing glittery tracks, reminiscent of early hyperpop and synth-pop. In between songs, yuniVERSE would stop and acknowledge her gratitude toward the crowd and toward Purity Ring. For every song, she would perform choreography matching her lyrics, including her tracks like “EVERYTHING EVERYTIME” and “FALL 4 U.”

“Never in a million years [did] I think I would be standing here performing songs I wrote, produced, and all that jazz,” yuniVERSE says. As someone embarking on her first major milestone of touring internationally, one could immediately tell that yuniVERSE has that grit and hunger in her that comes with being an up-and-coming artist.

Photography by Carissa Leong (IG: @carissalphoto.cr2)

The duo, composed of vocalist Megan James, or mj, and producer Corrin Roddick, opened their set with “many lives,” a high-energy track off of their latest record. As soon as the bass dropped and the breakcore beats started, the venue was illuminated in orbs of light.

I had no idea what to expect at this concert. Many of the audience were on the older side, likely reflecting their cult following amassed from their Tumblr glory days. What I had thought were metal dandelions or pinwheels on the stage ended up being high-speed fans that allowed for dynamic projections and light shows. Purity Ring are no strangers to eccentric live setups. In fact, past tours have seen them tucked inside light-up cocoons and sculptural rigs that double as instruments. This setup felt like a natural evolution of that world-building. Corrin was at the center of the stage, sporting a black garb, tapping a foldable instrument that would light up at his touch, with mj in a white flowy garment moving around the stage. The duo worked in harmony for the rest of the show.

Following “many lives” was “obedear,” a fan favorite off shrines, filled with mj’s wispy vocals over hypnotic trap beats. The duo also played some hits like “soshy,” a personal favorite off of their 2022 album graves. Right after mj’s light, airy voice sings “sing me now lulla- bye bye,” the bass drops: “read me now, so shy so shy.”

Photography by Carissa Leong (IG: @carissalphoto.cr2)

Amidst all the grandiose, fantastical visuals and lighting, mj reminds us that their cause is still very much rooted in reality. Right at the very beginning of the show, representatives passed out Purity Ring exclusive K95 masks to every member in the audience. After looking at the sea of concertgoers wearing these masks, mj takes a moment to acknowledge community in a world where COVID is still a risk to many. “This proves that protecting the vulnerable among us is possible, a world where we respect the caretakers of the world we live on … where we create the world we want to live in,” mj says. “No one is coming to save us. [Only we] can care for each other.”

The rest of the set contained a thoughtful mix of well-loved throwbacks and newer material. This message of hope reminded us of the interconnectedness of multiple realities, and was soon followed by “red the sunrise” off of their self-titled. Throwbacks from shrines like “amenamy” and “belispeak” got the crowd riled up. “fineshrine,” the duo’s most popular track, had the crowd singing along to every word.

After the calm, comes the storm. Another personal favorite of mine was the entire performance of “lofticries.” This song hits us hard and heavy, as we are taken from a landscape of greenery to a dark, dreary red apocalypse. The venue was swallowed in red as the background projected a throne of swords with mj at the center, posing her as a harbinger of something greater.

Photography by Carissa Leong (IG: @carissalphoto.cr2)

Yet after the storm is where the flowers bloom. The imagery to follow was filled once more with bright greens and blues, signaling a call-back from the otherworldly to the earthly. “imanocean” off of their self-titled was the only song in which Corrin stepped away from his central setup to play the guitar. It was an incredibly intimate moment between the group and their audience. The penultimate track, “place of my own,” the tour’s namesake, was like if a safe space was a song.

The show ended with “begin again” off of their 2015 album another eternity. Cathartic and hopeful, Purity Ring quite literally ended with a bang as the crowd shouted with mj,

“you be the moon i’ll be the earth

and when we burst

start over o darling

begin again begin again begin again”

Photography by Carissa Leong (IG: @carissalphoto.cr2)

Psychedelic and alien, you just had to be there to witness it. Both mj and Corrin took us on a cosmic journey, and invited us not only to engage with their art, but to thoughtfully engage in it with our community and the greater world around us. In our current landscape, where it seems like electronic music (at least as it appears on social media) is less about the music and community and more about engaging in the spectacle, Purity Ring reminds us that the real magic lies in building a world of your own and opening its doors for others, one show at a time.

—–

Stream purity ring here!