Another Eternity
by Purity Ring
  • Record Label: 4AD
  • Release Date: Mar 3, 2015
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
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  1. Paste Magazine
    Mar 3, 2015
    90
    Another Eternity represents the confluence of hard trap beats with the formula for electro that gave rise to prevailing styles in indie music. It’s enough of a creative leap to perhaps usher in more copycats, but Purity Ring again checks in first.
  2. Clash Music
    Mar 13, 2015
    80
    With more revealed in every listen, Another Eternity shows that there's much more to Purity Ring than initially meets the eye.
  3. The New York Times
    Mar 9, 2015
    80
    Another Eternity is at once more expansive and more transparent than “Shrines.”
  5. Billboard.com
    Mar 3, 2015
    80
    [2012 album, Shrines] was a fun record, like listening to Madonna at half speed with your face in a strobe light. Follow-up Another Eternity does little to expand this aesthetic, but for those who enjoy hearing top 40 pop sounds refracted through a funhouse mirror, that's probably not bad news.
  6. PopMatters
    Mar 3, 2015
    80
    Another Eternity is the best case scenario for fans of the first album, providing more of what James and Roddick excel at, but intensified and refined. It’s one step closer to pop perfection.
  7. AllMusic
    Mar 2, 2015
    80
    Another Eternity remains true to what makes Purity Ring special by refining it, and proves that they can challenge themselves and deliver their most accessible work yet.
  8. The Observer (UK)
    Mar 2, 2015
    80
    As a whole, the album could do with slightly more counterbalance to the several anthemic tracks, but the delicate final song, Stillness in Woe, is a welcome, dreamy reprieve.
  9. Exclaim
    Mar 2, 2015
    80
    Strangely familiar, yet still a major leap forward, there's a nice pop sheen that sells the record without losing the idiosyncratic production that drew listeners to the duo in the first place.
  10. NOW Magazine
    Feb 26, 2015
    80
    Three years later, Purity Ring's sophomore effort lives up to the anticipation.
  11. Consequence
    Feb 27, 2015
    75
    The album itself deals in paradox, too: light and pleasing to the ear, it’s an easy pop dose unless you choose to pay close attention to the lyrics. Then it becomes one of the most wrenching listens of the year.
  12. Rolling Stone
    Mar 3, 2015
    70
    Producer Corin Roddick crafts stark tracks that find a middle ground between lustrous synth pop and the plush, cavernous hip-hop of hot producers like Mike Will Made It.
  13. Slant Magazine
    Mar 2, 2015
    70
    The pair largely eschews such so-called guffaws on their sophomore effort, another eternity, but they display a willingness to more intrepidly embrace the pop underpinnings of Shrines.
  14. Drowned In Sound
    Feb 26, 2015
    70
    This brooding, almost gothic feel is the key to this album’s success, and proves that Purity Ring are far more complex than their surface lacquer of innocence may have led us believe.
  15. New Musical Express (NME)
    Feb 26, 2015
    70
    Another Eternity is a far more mainstream-sounding album than their 2012 debut ‘Shrines’, but it’s also rooted in sounds from the underground.
  16. Pretty Much Amazing
    Mar 4, 2015
    67
    The album is good, which is a component never worth underscoring. But it could be much more than that.
  17. The A.V. Club
    Mar 3, 2015
    67
    Another Eternity seems more focused on entertaining large masses of people than creating meaningful art. That’s all fine and good, but that sort of cash and popularity grab might prove that all that past skepticism was well-placed.
  18. Pitchfork
    Mar 2, 2015
    66
    This obsession with connecting and disappearing in rapid succession is fitting for a record that finds Purity Ring trying to stake their claim at pop's center but ultimately retreating within themselves.
  19. Under The Radar
    Mar 11, 2015
    65
    This feels like little more than a competent game of catch-up for three years away, with Purity Ring now following in the footsteps of others, in a genre where they once led the pack.
  20. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Mar 9, 2015
    63
    As it stands, its hard to call anything on this album an evolution, since many of the tracks feel like they're just more beefed up but far less interesting versions of what they gave us on Shrines.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 82 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 82
  3. Negative: 4 out of 82
  1. brettrosey
    Mar 4, 2015
    2
    As a huge Purity Ring fan, I came into this record with some of the highest expectations. To say that they let me down is the understatementAs a huge Purity Ring fan, I came into this record with some of the highest expectations. To say that they let me down is the understatement of the year. To me, this record is the epitome of a superficial electro pop album that barely scrapes past the surface. Every melody, every hook falls short to the point where I have to genuinely wonder what outside help they received on Shrines that they didn't get here. If this were merely a case of label deadline issues and they put this out a year after Shrines I'd cut them some slack. But this is the result of 3-4 years of effort. Tracks like "Repetition" and "Flood on the Floor" are ones that I would be genuinely embarrassed to put my name by. To me, another eternity is more than just a sophomore slump, it's the beginning of the end for the band that originally inspired me to become a music producer. I am still hopeful they turn it all around with their next effort, but I can't say I have much faith after hearing another eternity.… Full Review »
  2. longjetty7
    Mar 5, 2015
    9
    What originally drew me to Purity Ring was the ethereal sound and intricate textures on their first album, Shrines. Another Eternity is stillWhat originally drew me to Purity Ring was the ethereal sound and intricate textures on their first album, Shrines. Another Eternity is still recognizable as the same band, but it's a bit of a departure as well. On this album, Purity Ring is stepping out of the ghostly shadows and embracing a somewhat more mainstream electropop sound. The songs are a lot more melodic and catchy this time around, and they're actually distinguishable from each other! (I've listened to Shrines many times and still have a hard time remembering which song is which.) Even though Another Eternity may not be as innovative as Shrines, I think it's overall a stronger album. The songwriting is varied, confident, and consistent, and since the album is somewhat short, it makes me want to play it again when it's over.… Full Review »
  3. MirrorPhase
    Sep 29, 2016
    10
    'Another Eternity' consolidates the significant potential evident in Purity Ring's first album 'Shrines.' Many critics have argued the band'Another Eternity' consolidates the significant potential evident in Purity Ring's first album 'Shrines.' Many critics have argued the band has lost some of its alternative appeal with a cleaner, tighter and bigger sound. The general consensus seems to be that the duo is pushing toward the mainstream (code for 'selling out' perhaps). It could equally be argued, however, that Purity Ring's modus operandi on 'Another Eternity' is actually the exploitation of top 40 sounds and production standards to create something that is disconcertingly close to the mainstream even as it unsettles the latter's familiarity/banality. And this may be more powerfully 'alternative' than the band's use of more traditional techniques (read identity-markers) of indie music on their earlier work. Most notably the reverb-drenched vocals and warped/off-pitch keyboard melodies canonised by pioneers like Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine have been replaced with up-front pop-style vocal production and tight EDM basses and riffs, but the end result feels oddly displaced from the mainstream, even as it invites comparisons to MTV mainstays Katy Perry or Lil Wayne. It recalls the artistic strategy of re-framing the TV soapie employed so powerfully by auteur director David Lynch during his Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet era. 'Another Eternity' is decidedly dark, and reminded me of my first encounters with Massive Attack's Mezzanine. It also feels as significant a moment for electronic music as the release of that late 90s masterpiece. I should add, however, that Another Eternity does not fall foul of being a purely self-reflexive or academic exercise in musical post-modernism. Its astute appropriation and re-framing of pop creates a visceral masterpiece, with some of the most powerful songs I have heard for some time. It is also notable for its sheer consistency of quality. While the music industry norm is 3 or maybe 4 stand-out tracks on a major album release, with the remainder being fillers, nearly every track on this album shines. May this release auger still greater things to come.… Full Review »
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