Pure Bathing Culture released their latest LP Chalice at the end of 2023. Today the Portland indie-pop duo are back with two new songs, "Wild Fillies" and "Cardinal," which they describe as "mystic ballads for shadowy times."
In the Bandcamp notes, Pure Bathing Culture say that "Wild Fillies" is the "night song" while "Cardinal" is the "day song." Recorded last summer with Trevor Spencer, they're both mellow and funky with an '80s pop sheen. Together, they tell a story about finding light in darkness. The band's Daniel Hindman says:
Instrumentally these tracks are inspired in part by things like Dire Straights’ early record Communique and JJ Cale’s River Runs Deep. There’s a sense of space and mystery to that music that is so special, lots of vibe and minimal tracks. It feels like we started there and traveled to somewhere much less Americana and more familiar to our own ethereal dream pop world. I wanted the guitars to have a slowed-way down Nile Rogers vibe, like maybe he was hanging out in Tulsa checking out some music in the mid 1970’s but then was invited to play on a new age record or something.
Vocalist Sarah Versprille adds:
Sometimes everything feels so crazy and I feel so helpless, but I’m a dreamer and I believe in people. I think maybe it’s my karma to explore this idea in this lifetime, so all these things like nursing curses, cracking codes in the tall shadows, spells in the midnight, songs in the moonlight, are all part of a story that I have to tell.
Listen to both songs below.
