There is something extraordinary happening in Brussels. Beneath the surface of its underground scene, a band has been slowly, confidently reshaping what glam rock and art rock can sound like in the 21st century. That band is Purrses. With their debut full-length album Reality Fantasy, they have taken their chaotic charm and sharpened it into bold and elegant material that sounds like nothing else you could stumble upon on the contemporary music scene. They do not play on nostalgia. Not at all, they reinvent several different yet complementary music genres in such a fresh, unique, and distinctive way. Reality Fantasy is, above all, a vision. It doesn’t follow the expected arcs of post-punk or glam revival. It twists them. It bends them. And sometimes, it tears them apart, resulting in an album that during so many moments sounds decadent and dangerous, sophisticated and untamed. With a sound that dips in and out of eras, genres, and moods, Purrses create a world that exists entirely on its own terms. This record sounds like a city at night. Neon reflections on wet pavement. Empty clubs glowing with potential. It’s glamorous, yes, but not in the conventional sense. It’s the glamour of the strange, the overlooked, the beautiful outsider. Purrses do not chase the spotlight, they create it themselves, casting light in unexpected directions. Their music invites you in, but never promises to make you comfortable. Led by Laura Ruggiero’s songwriting, composing, and producing hand, the band embraces contradiction as a creative force. Reality Fantasy lives in that tension, between the angular and the smooth, between pop instinct and experimental bravado. There is melody here, detailed and often infectious. But it’s obscured, distorted, and wrapped in textures that defy the clean lines of conventional rock.
This is art rock with a punk pulse and a glam soul. It is self-aware, but never self-satisfied. There is nothing ironic about Purrses’ approach. Their songs may flirt with absurdity, but they do so with a serious understanding of form and feel. This is not chaos for its own sake but a craft wearing glitter-streaked warpaint. Luc Bersier’s production techniques blend the warmth of analog recording with modern clarity, creating a simultaneously immediate and dreamlike ambiance. The textures are thick but not muddy. Each instrument has space to breathe, even as the whole mix swirls like a hurricane caught in a disco ball. You can feel the hand of someone who knows exactly when to let a song fall apart, and when to snap it back into form with razor-sharp precision. These songs continuously lurch, glide, and twist. Riffs appear and vanish. Rhythms collapse and reform. Vocals leap from spoken word to chant to melody, often within a single breath. And yet, through it all, there is cohesion. This is not a collage, it’s a mosaic. And every broken piece adds to the strange beauty of the whole. It would be tempting to draw comparisons, a dash of Siouxsie, a glimmer of Bowie, the wiry energy of Gang Of Four, the seductive theatricality of glam. But Purrses isn’t a composite and they are not imitating anyone. Their music doesn’t echo the past. It translates it. This music knows its history, but refuses to be bound by it. It is raw and contemporary, unfiltered and full of wit. There’s also something defiantly feminine about this record. Not in a way that panders or poses, but in how it commands attention without apology. The vocals are sharp and unrelenting, playful and commanding. They don’t beg to be heard. They demand it. They challenge the listener with vulnerability and venom, sometimes in the same phrase. This is power, not posturing. Presence, not performance.
Reality Fantasy also resists categorization in the best possible way. It is glam, yes. It is punk, certainly. But it is also something stranger. Something more theatrical, more literary. These are not songs built for algorithmic discovery. They are built for immersion. For rooms filled with sweat and strobe lights. For late-night walks in unfamiliar neighborhoods. For people who want music to feel like a mirror cracked just enough to show another dimension. Purrses understands the art of transformation. Not just in sound, but in self. Their music offers escape not by avoidance, but by exaggeration. They take the absurdity of life and amplify it into beauty. They find rhythm in disarray. And somehow, they make it fun. Their live shows have already earned them a reputation: sexy, tense, groovy. Reality Fantasy captures that same electric unpredictability, bottled just enough to bring it home without losing the danger. It’s also worth noting that this album arrives fully formed. There’s no tentativeness here, no hedging of bets. This is not a debut that tests the waters. It dives in, headfirst, heels on. It sounds like a band that knows exactly who they are, and doesn’t care if you’re ready for them. That confidence is rare. That clarity is rare. Purrses have both, and more. And while this may be their first full-length, it feels more like a second or third act in a larger story. The band’s previous EPs, especially Wrong Tide, offered glimpses of this ambition. But Reality Fantasy makes it real. It takes the eccentricities and rough edges of their earlier work and polishes them just enough to shine without sanding them down. There’s something profoundly refreshing about a band like this emerging now, on the global music scene often shaped by sameness. Purrses refuses to flatten their sound into genre grids. They sprawl, shapeshift, and surprise. Reality Fantasy is gloriously, beautifully unclassifiable.
It is also a statement of identity. Not just for Purrses, but for a certain kind of listener, one who craves surprise, who appreciates the blend of elegance and edge, who wants music that feels glamorous and real at the same time. Reality Fantasy is exactly that. A dream with its feet in the dirt. A hallucination with perfect eyeliner. And with this record, Purrses have stepped out of the shadows and onto the stage. It’s their show now. And you’d be wise not to look away. Head to their Bandcamp page and pre-order this gem right now!
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