Strange Ranger never abandon guitars, however. “She’s On Fire” pencils beachy riffs in between synth arpeggios, all cast on pallets of six-string crush, a crush likely influenced by the group’s devotion to Loveless. While there are elements of shoegaze distortion, Pure Music’s press release
is quick to note the avenues don’t end there.

While “She’s On Fire” wouldn’t sound out of place on some sort of dream pop or modern shoegaze playlist, it’s immediately followed by “Dream,” which couldn’t be more stylistically different. Its hook still hasn’t left the dancefloor, only amplified by the effects applied to Fiona
Woodman’s voice.

Isaac Elger’s voice is reminiscent of 80s guitar pop, particularly in the vein of the Psychedelic Furs, an influence most obviously explored in album closer “Dazed in the Shallows,” yet another track that straddles the edge between songs to cry to or songs to pregame to. This iteration of Strange Ranger is at its strongest when the drum machines are factorial and efficient in their robotic fashion, colored only by the thick strokes of synth brushes or splashes of distorted guitar.

Pure Music became its final product during recording in a rural New York cabin, where the members of the group were shut in from a blizzard, working tirelessly on a record that dances, sways, stumbles and rises over its 10 songs.

“Music makes us transcend the feeling of being alienated from or trapped by the world,” Woodman says in the press release. “I want the experience of listening to Pure Music to be euphoric.”

It isn’t far off. In all of the record’s ambition lies a key transcendental factor that gives its songs weight beyond their existence. It’s the type of record whose sound is so distinct, visual and memorable, much like those that it draws upon.

Pre-order Pure Music by Strange Ranger HERE