New Zealand dreamscape artists Purple Pilgrims are set to release their long-awaited, sophomore record Perfumed Earth on August 9 via Flying Nun Records. This release marks their recorded debut with the iconic independent label.

To create the songs represented on Perfumed Earth, the Nixon sisters, Clementine and Valentine, retreated to a wooden sanctuary hidden deep in the wilds of Tapu, where their 2016 debut Eternal Delight came together. Birthed from a new calm and contemplative headspace, and a select group of collaborators whom they brought together as a “very modern/mobile band”, the pair set to immersing themselves in their new sonic world.

The 9 track record features support input from Gary War (bass and synth from various motel rooms in the USA), Jimmy Mac (lush live drums), Joshua Kennedy (additional guitar jangle and fuzz), veteran improvisational experimentalist Jeff Henderson (saxophone on ‘Delphiniums In Harmony / Two Worlds Away’) and a special guest appearance from New Zealand six-string expressionist Roy Montgomery on ‘Ruinous Splendour’.

Woven throughout Perfumed Earth, the lush pentatonic melodies of Purple Pilgrims burn brighter than ever, combined with shimmery kaleidoscopic textures that mark a new chapter in the pair’s musical evolution. It is, as they phrase it: “ancient imagery expressed through a modern lens – folk songs played on synthesised instruments.”