ALBUM: Pure Bathing Culture ‘Pray For Rain’

Rating:

Pray For Rain is the second album from exquisite electronic quartet Pure Bathing Culture. The 10 track record sees the band strip back their existing pure, delightful sound even further; with no compromise on quality or quantity.

With the aid of producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans);  Sarah Versprille, Daniel Hindman, Zach Tillman & Brian Wright deliver their blend of “clean yet serpentine guitar lines” and captivating vocals with immaculate energy and precision. Opening track ‘The Tower’ is a perfect example of this: Versprille’s voice meandering over Hindman’s guitar, both combining to work their “darkest magic” in the brightest way.

Single ‘Palest Pearl’ has a bouncing, poppy rhythm underscored by weighty literary allusions (as noted in our previous ONES TO WATCH piece on the band), whilst on ‘Clover’ Versprille barely leaves room for breath between chorus and verse with her continuous, poetic lyrics. The slower tempo on ‘Singer’ also gives listeners another opportunity to hear her intricate lyrical examples.

Second single ‘Pray For Rain’ is the standout track on the album. “Are you cut in two, cut all the way through?” asks Versprille as the bass fizzes, and the guitar ricochets like the aural equivalent of being “careless like a child”. ‘Darling Save Us’ also lingers in the memory, perhaps because it sounds like something the almighty Fleetwood Mac might have written, if they’d decided to stray in to stripped back electronica.

‘She Shakes’ brings the tempo back up, and will provoke a shimmy or two on the dance floor – or on your morning commute – whilst ‘Maximilian’s Ring’ has an impressive mix of guitar, drums and synths. ‘I Trace Your Symbol’ closes the record, and is a song for nostalgic lovers who were able to steal away a few uninterrupted hours together in the summer just passed.

No-one prays for rain, but Pure Bathing Culture’s electronic psalms on their latest album will leave you feeling refreshed, awake, and revived. They will wash away any anxiety you may have been holding on to before pressing play.

Pray For Rain is out now via Memphis Industries.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate Crudgington

Kate Crudgington

Assistant Editor for Gigslutz (2015-2017) Now Co-Founder, Co-Host & Features Editor for @getinherears