Dark Habits’ first show of 2020 kicks off on 4 February at the Botanique’s intimate Witloof Bar. Purple Pilgrims, made up of sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon, have travelled from New Zealand to carry out their tour of Northern Europe in support of their recent album Perfumed Earth (Flying Nun).
The small group of spectators at tonight’s concert number no more than fifty, maximum. But the number seems somewhere around twenty to thirty. After a twenty-five minute delay, the sisters take to the stage, clad in long matching black dresses. Valentine takes her place behind the keyboard, while Clementine tunes her guitar. They begin ‘Ancestors Watching’ off their latest album. A roiling dreamscape, conjuring up folkloric imagery set the tone, the sisters’ voices intertwining as they swap lines.
Purple Pilgrims’ sonic offerings are rich in textured atmospheres peppered through landscapes from the deepest of dark forests spanning across distant deserts. Gliding into ‘Tragic Gloss’, simple synths swirl around shoegaze guitar distortion, lending more spaciousness still. In ‘Forever’, breathy vocals float over a psychedelic landscape that serves up some major mystical, New Age tombs-of-the-Pharaohs energy. ‘Love in Lunacy (Saturn Return)’ evokes hazy summer days spent in daydream, gazing at tiger’s eye gemstones ruminating over a lost love while free form jazz instrumentals, with a nod to dream pop flourishes reminiscent of Cocteau Twins intertwine.
Their most recent single, ‘Drink the Juice’ proves to be a standout track. It is here that it is evident that the sisters have already extended themselves beyond their latest LP and are coming into their own both thematically and sonically. With their sophomore album less than a year old, their newest release already gives a glimpse of what is yet to come. The Nixon sisters have mentioned that the song references stories they heard about a local cult that lived around their family home in New Zealand on the west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the 70s and 80s. Complete with ritualistic hand gestures performed in unison, adding a sense of drama, they embrace the spooky ambiance of the song with aplomb. Intense throbbing beats paired with restrained, measured delivery builds upon the song’s ominous intentions.
Despite minimal communication between the artists and the audience, Purple Pilgrims exude a shy warmth to those of us gathered together that evening. During ‘Ruinous Splendour’, Valentine descends from the stage singing her part from the heart of the meagre audience. Clocking in at just under an hour, the show comes to an abrupt end, leaving a little feeling of not enough. Nevertheless, we left the concert feeling uplifted and excited to be privy to a group who are bound to go on to higher recognition in years to come.