Review: Purelink at Wyola Club
Purelink at Wyola Club
w/ Mei Saraswati
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Following a hugely successful initial run in 2025, Fremantle’s Arrival Festival, with its eclectic lineup and intriguing venues, promised once again to drag punters out of their winter hibernation with a range of compelling acts. For the 2026 iteration, one of the most interesting facets was the launch of the Wyola Club, a new venue occupying a beautiful space above the regularly heaving Honky Tonk Blues bar. Having seen off the concerns of local residents, the Wyola Club owners skated through council approvals in June last year and have delivered a welcome addition to the Fremantle live music scene.
Much like the venue below, it’s narrow and deep and makes you wonder how many other unused and subsequently unappreciated buildings are sitting idle throughout the port town. Unsurprisingly for a venue still finding its feet, and no doubt with locals’ noise complaints still lingering, the early sound mix struggled to fill the front half of the club. Adding to the complexity was the chatter and clatter of the bar, sitting at the rear of the venue but with no means of deflecting the continual noise from the performances on stage. Ordinarily it may not be such an issue, but for a night of ambient music it was an early misstep.
Still, these minor quibbles couldn’t distract from the thrill of seeing Mei Saraswati, once a fixture of the Perth music scene but now someone who appears very rarely indeed. Situated on the side of the stage and, as a result, somewhat difficult to see, Saraswati built gentle layers that ebbed and flowed and held the attention of the swelling crowd with ease. Central to it all, of course, was her tremendous voice, all nuance and control, benefitting from many years of experience. Where in the past there was a slightly deeper approach that occasionally injected R ‘n’ B beats, tonight was a continuous flow of melody that successfully held an engaged audience.
The arrival of Brooklyn-based trio Purelink to the stage was the signal for an influx of punters, many of whom settled on the floor to submit themselves completely to the set they were about to experience. It’s been an interesting transition for Purelink, who announced themselves roughly five years ago with a pair of atmospheric dance tracks that, while separate from the tone of their recent releases, certainly gave an indication of where they might go. Setting up in usual fashion around a high table, each member brought a distinct and deliberate ingredient to their music—there was the sparse guitar of Ben Paulson, the electric bow of Tommy Paslanski, and the sample depth added by Akeem Asani.
With Paulson’s playing recalling some of the more refined moments that Dirty Three’s Mick Turner is known for, Purelink immediately filled the venue with a beautiful and compelling composition. There was no crowd interaction and barely any acknowledgement, with pieces that ran into each other and developed naturally over the course of their performance. Like Saraswati, there was no shortage of skill in being able to stitch together a set that had no breaks or junctures, where songs seemed to naturally evolve and different elements drifted in and out.
Asani was the most visually vibrant, routinely striking electronic drum pads that generated a range of percussive elements, but for the most part the absence of any physicality made it easier to sink into their music. For the best part of an hour, Purelink held the crowd enraptured, and it was easy to see why they have garnered such a strong following. It was a mightily impressive debut Australian performance and one that personified why this newly minted festival already occupies such a crucial place in Fremantle’s live music calendar.
RICK BRYANT
Photos by Linda Dunjey
