Words: Lucas Gladman
Pure Bathing Culture was a young band when they released their debut album, Moon Tides. The album’s lo-fi production matched the band’s age and it seemed to fit well with their young-yet-still-retro mystique. The crime hidden in the presentation of Moon Tides is only evident when one makes note of how the strength of the band’s songwriting is overshadowed by its delivery. The gratuitous use of reverb across nearly every track only served to separate Pure Bathing Culture from their audience. But if their debut was a full submersion in washed out textures, then Pray For Rain marks their first steps out of the water, just before their fingers are about to prune.
Daniel Hindman and Sarah Versprille, the creative minds behind Pure Bathing Culture, press forward on nearly every front with their sophomore release for Partisan Records, and their hard work is not without reward. Pray For Rain is a lush collection of songs that has been refined without being picked clean. Much of this is due to their collaboration with producer John Congleton, whose credits include last year’s Burn Your Fire For No Witness from Angel Olsen and the Grammy Award winning eponymous release from St. Vincent.
Congleton’s presence across the album is strong and decisive. Versprille’s voice is pushed forward in the mix of album opener “The Tower” and nearly every song that follows. The reigns have been pulled on nearly every effect that ran wild on Moon Tides. The pulsating synthesizers and sweeping guitars that intersect and form the beds of many songs on Pray For Rain are expansive, yet focused. The live rhythm section helps propel many of the songs forward in a natural, driving manner. All of this restraint is in good taste and serves the songwriting above all else. The inherent precision of Congleton’s production allows the arrangements in tracks like “Singer” and “Palest Pearl” to avoid any and all clutter while still remaining full and vibrant.
Versprille’s newly found spotlight is rarely squandered or monopolized. The vocal lines tend to shine brightest when her beaming melodies are balanced with melancholic or contemplative lyrics. This remains true in Pray For Rain’s most accessible songs and in the the slow-burning moments that exist in its lowest valleys. In the album’s title track, Versprille sings, “Now you’re dancing in the shadows / And they’re calling out your name / Was it pleasure? / Was it pain?” These unanswered questions of longing and reprieve seem to course through the entire album, paving a way for a stream of similar sentiments that seem to circle back to their beginning.
Pray For Rain is exactly what I would expect from a mid-level, sophomore, indie-pop record—catchy, but not overly accessible; cohesive and not entirely derivative. Previous callouts and nods to the songwriting of Fleetwood Mac and the atmosphere of Cocteau Twins still stand, but a varied and calculated mix of modulation and reverb helps Pray For Rain from being entirely ephemeral or forgettable. Versprille and Hindman are clearly still finding their footing as they step out of their deep, safe pools of lo-fi reverb, but this release is a step in the right direction and the decision to dial back their more ambient yearnings—particularly on Versprille’s vocals—serve the songwriting with a welcomed dose of honesty.
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