Purelink: “4K Murmurs” [ft. J] Track Review

Purelink made their name with a sound as specific as it is obscure. On the A-side of their debut EP, 2021’s Bliss / Swivel, the Chicago trio of Tommy Paslaski (aka Concave Reflection), Ben Paulson (aka Kindtree), and Akeem Asani (aka Millia) conjured a hazy fusion of ambient and dub that harked back to the gauziest extremes of late-’90s electronica. Their sound wasn’t exactly retro, but it was obviously influenced by a clearly delineated set of artists who typified ambient techno’s Y2K vanguard.

On “4K Murmurs,” featuring J, the lead single from their upcoming mini-LP for Los Angeles’ Peak Oil, Purelink burrow more deeply into the same diaphanous sound. Very little seems to happen across the song’s seven-minute run; it doesn’t so much sprawl as swirl in place, a pastel mist of synths pocked by gentle cymbal taps. But turn it up loud, and hidden details emerge from the fog: muted piano notes, a flicker of what might be electric guitar, a bassline so deep that your bones pick up on it before your ears. It’s topped off with a curious, intermittent pinging of unclear origins. A chirping insect? A dime spinning on a tile countertop? It’s impossible to say, but the shimmering accent is the perfect complement for a song that seems to glow from within.