Pure Bathing Culture has announced today their new album Pray For Rain due October 23 on Partisan Records in the US (Memphis Industries in the EU). The band has also shared their first single, the title track “Pray For Rain,”
the album is the band’s second studio album and first with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans, Angel Olsen, The Walkmen) at the helm.

“We needed to make a big step and our version of that was to cut the cord from our previous albums,” Hindman said of the process, then confesses: “I was nervous all the way through. It was nerve-wracking and almost antagonizing at times.”

When it came time to write and record their follow-up to Moon Tides, the duo knew what they didn’t want. “We didn’t gravitate towards someone making indie dream-pop records,” Dan said. That was when Congleton reached out to the band and invited them to come record with him in his Dallas, TX studio.

“John pushed us to not make clichés, to not play into the style of other bands,” Dan said. The challenges came right away as Congleton pressed the group into unfamiliar and at times uncomfortable territory in the studio. “He tricked me with the guitars on the album,” Dan said. “We got the basic tracks down and he asked me to do scratch guitar and then John wouldn’t let me go back and do the guitars again. He refused to do any layering.”

As a result, everything on Pray for Rain is pretty much as Pure Bathing Culture actually sounds, all analog gear, with virtually no plug-ins or effects added afterwards, no hiding behind multiple layers. “There aren’t a lot of tricks; What you hear is naturally what’s there,” Dan said.

It was a taxing yet ultimately rewarding experience when the album was completed. “It was shocking to hear what the finished product was,” Sarah said. “It was like being in a vortex and then we came out with this record.” She adds with a laugh something John Congleton told her when all was said and done: “You were very brave.”

Sarah summarizes the Pray for Rain experience as one of “stepping into the realm of discovering who we are as a band and as songwriters,” echoing a theme of the album itself, the process of change and transition. “You can find the best version of yourself in those hardest moments,” she said. Pray for Rain is the sound of Pure Bathing Culture transforming from who they were to who they will be, of finding their way, ready to take steps both small and momentous on their musical path.

The band have also announced a North American tour starting mid-September. The band will kick off their headline dates in Seattle and hit the U.S. and Canada. PBC will be joined by indie pop act & fellow Portland residents, Wild Ones. The band will also perform in late August at MusicfestNW.

Pray For Rain
October 23, 2015
Partisan Records

Track listing:
1. The Tower
2. Pray For Rain
3. Palest Pearl
4. Clover
5. Darling, Save Us
6. Singer
7. She Shakes
8. Maximillian’s Ring
9. I Trace Your Symbol
10. In the Night, In the Peaceful Night

Tour Dates
08/23/15 – Portland, OR – MusicfestNW
09/18/15 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
09/19/15 – Vancouver, BC – Fortune Sound Club
09/22/15 – Fargo, ND – Studio 222 *
09/23/15 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club *
09/24/15 – Madison, WI – The Frequency *
09/25/15 – Chicago, IL – Schubas *
09/26/15 – Champaign, IL – Pygmalion Music Festival
09/27/15 – Cincinnati, OH – Midpoint Music Festival
09/28/15 – Columbus, OH – The Basement *
09/29/15 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern *
10/01/15 – Toronto, ON – The Drake *
10/02/15 – Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz *
10/03/15 – Boston, MA – Middle East Upstairs *
10/04/15 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right *
10/06/15 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle *
10/07/15 – Washington, DC – DC9 *
10/08/15 – Carborro, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room *
10/09/15 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn *
10/10/15 – Asheville, NC – The Mothlight *
10/12/15 – St. Louis, MO – The Demo *
10/13/15 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar *
10/29/15 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
11/01/15 – Santa Barbara, CA – SOhO Restaurant and Music Club *
11/02/15 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
11/04/15 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom *
11/07/15 – Dallas, TX – Three Links *
11/08/15 – Norman, OK – The Opolis *
11/09/15 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge *
11/11/15 – Denver, CO – Hi-Dive *
11/12/15 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court *
11/13/15 – Boise, ID – Neurolux *

* = w/ Wild Ones