Purple Pilgrims Share Dreamlike New Single ‘Outside’ Ahead of Third Album Given to the Night
The New Zealand-based sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon explore outsider identity, transformation and finding light in the darkness on their latest release, arriving via AD 93.
New Zealand dream-pop duo Purple Pilgrims have released their new single ‘Outside’, the latest preview of their forthcoming third album, Given to the Night, due out on 27 November via AD 93.
Comprised of sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon, the duo return with a melodic yet melancholic track shaped by the introspective atmosphere and natural surroundings that informed the making of the record. Created during an off-grid retreat in the New Zealand countryside, the album finds the pair embracing simplicity, intuition and the freedom to explore their distinctive, kaleidoscopic sound.
‘Outside’ reflects on the experience of feeling like an outsider, transforming that sense of separation into something more liberating. Its lyrics consider personal change and renewed perspective, capturing the movement from emotional disconnection towards a feeling of being alive again.
Explaining the meaning behind the single, Purple Pilgrims describe it as “an ode to outsiders”, adding that a label that once felt burdensome has become “an anointed privilege”.
The sisters also reflect on the private world created by listening to music while moving through everyday life, describing the experience of wearing headphones and walking through the world as a kind of sacred space. From there, the song ventures into existential questions about existence, transformation and the possibility of transcending beyond our present forms.
A New Album Born in the New Zealand Wilderness
Given to the Night finds Purple Pilgrims exploring the spaces between dream and reality, light and darkness, and isolation and connection. Rather than following a predetermined creative direction, Clementine and Valentine allowed the songs to emerge naturally throughout the recording process.
“We recorded songs as they appeared, which sometimes felt like catching light. Before we realised it we had a record,” the duo explain.
During the album's creation, the sisters stepped back from the outside world, deleting social media and retreating into the trees of their native New Zealand. Keeping the recording process largely private, they invited only a small number of people into their environment, allowing the music to develop organically.
The resulting record brings together floating guitar lines, entwining synthesizers, tape hiss and layered vocals to create an immersive, dreamlike sound. Its atmosphere reflects the album's nocturnal title, which the sisters interpret as both an inclination towards the shadows and an act of surrendering to the night.
Written during a period of personal transition, Given to the Night explores what the duo describe as “a sense of finding the light in the shadow”. Feelings of isolation, joy, grief, healing, insomnia and fleeting clarity intertwine throughout the record, mirroring the nonlinear nature of human experience.
‘Outside’ Follows Previous Single ‘Innocence Lost’
The new single follows ‘Innocence Lost’, released on 6 September, which explored the difficult consequences of love through meticulously layered vocals and swooning guitar work.
Together, the two tracks offer a glimpse into the emotional and sonic landscape of Given to the Night. Where ‘Innocence Lost’ examined the complexities of love, ‘Outside’ turns towards belonging, self-discovery and the possibility of finding freedom in a space beyond conventional expectations.
Purple Pilgrims' approach continues to centre the close creative connection between the Nixon sisters, whose voices and instrumentation combine to produce a sound that feels both intimate and expansive. On their third album, that connection is channelled into a collection shaped by instinct, introspection and the shifting boundaries between the internal and external worlds.
Purple Pilgrims Announce New Zealand Album Release Shows
To celebrate the release of Given to the Night, Purple Pilgrims will play two special shows in New Zealand this December.
The duo will perform at Strange Universe Fest at Kāhui St David’s in Auckland on 5 December, alongside Schofield Strangelove, who will play a rare set. They will then head to Wellington for a show at Vogelmorn Hall on 11 December, joined by Mercury Fèng.
With Given to the Night, Purple Pilgrims continue to develop their immersive dream-pop, embracing uncertainty and the beauty of life's transitional moments. ‘Outside’ offers another glimpse into a record that finds the sisters looking beyond the familiar, discovering unexpected freedom in solitude and searching for light within the shadows.
Purple Pilgrims — Given to the Night
- Album: Given to the Night
- Release date: 27 November
- Label: AD 93
- Latest single: ‘Outside’ — released 13 October
Live Dates
- 5 December — Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland, New Zealand — Kāhui St David’s, Strange Universe Fest, with Schofield Strangelove
- 11 December — Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington, New Zealand — Vogelmorn Hall, with Mercury Fèng
Listen and find out more:
- Label: AD 93
- Pre-orders and album information: Available via the label’s official channels
- Credit Olivia Renouf