Written by Louis Pelingen

The past we have left behind manifests through still memories that have comforted us through the paths of growing up. The small bike that was used to roam around the neighborhood, the color blue that reminds us of comfort puffing in the skies, the dollhouse that embraces the imagination of a child, and the gentle warmth that gathers when we see our parents and loved ones in front of us. And even when those moments pass through us, it doesn’t mean that there is no opportunity to find comfort in them when we do get older. For Pauline Rana and her musical project The Purest Blue, that sentiment is a truth that we need to remind ourselves all the time.

In the aptly titled debut project, ‘All is True’, the smallest and tightest of packages bring a lot to the table. There is a lot of tenderness and sweetness on this very record, where the production from both Pauline Rana and Sobs & Subsonic Eye member Jared Lim allows a lot of the instrumental textures to be crisp and splashy, allowing the melodies to glisten and soar, and make that return of past memories with a deeper appreciation from our present selves to really hit home. 

The glinting waves of synths that opens up ‘Stationary Bike’ as it sweeps through the bustling acoustics and Pauline’s cooing vocals is quite the breezy ride to start the record, which then proceeds to simmering shoegaze on ‘Blackie’ with the crystalline hiss from the guitars, the percussive breakbeats of ‘The Truth is Blue’ and ‘Carnation Pink’ that gives a lot of energy from the buzzy synth, organ keys, and lo-fi acoustic run of the former track and the sunny pop tune of the latter track, the undulating atmospherics of ‘Small House’ with the layers of melodies brushing up to the end, and the rather straightforward dream-pop soundscape of ‘Tenderness and Purity’ with the driving bass lines, soothing vocal melodies, and shuffling drums just before the soundscape breathes and moves close to the front of the mix. The only hiccup this record has is the synthetic warble of ‘That’s Us’, where even if it does fit with what the song is going for due to the swaying details of time, the synthetic vocal production doesn’t really mesh that well with the dreamy melodies and instrumentation.

While this record takes that saccharine quality burst for the bright moments to shine, it doesn’t shy away from going through the grief that Pauline feels as she returns back to those memories, especially the ones that involve her past self and her father. She rolls through that grief on ‘Blackie’ and ‘The Truth is Blue’, where despite trying to find a sense of comfort on the opening track, she finds herself feeling a sting thinking through the loss she felt from past memories, overall making her feel blue, a color signified for sadness and loneliness.

But that color also stands for comfort as well. In ‘Small House’ and onwards, those memories of the people and pets that she really missed from her childhood are still there with her, teaching her how to love herself and find the comfort she needs in her present self. To realize that what we feel like is missing is there somewhere in past memories, acting as truths that validate a positivity that we have to keep on providing not just to ourselves, but to everyone that we always meet and interact with.

Overall, ‘All is True’ is a reflective record where the splashy quality not only resides with the colorful production and melodies from Pauline Rana and Jared Lim on the array of prismatic dream pop, alternative pop, and shoegaze, but also with the sense of finding one’s own joy from returning to the transitory space of memories even if having to find that joy also means simmering through the sadness that shakes us before. If you ever find yourself feeling like something is amiss within yourself, don’t be afraid to open the door of a past space, you might find the truth you’ll need to move forward.

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