Corny new-age spirituality is an all-too-prevalent musical inspiration now, but its resurgence in interest underscores a poignant observation about our culture: It’s growing colder. Forests between work and home are being eroded to make way for massive parking lots, zoos are becoming last resorts, and even places of relaxation aren’t free from our toxic impact.

Portland’s new duo Pure Bathing Culture struggle to reconnect the listener with the forces of nature that strike us with awe.

An album like Moon Tides represents an earnest yearning for a state of mind closer to the peace of nature, a mental quiescence that’s been temporarily disturbed by overexposure to flashing smart phone screens, tweets, digital billboards, and scrolling absent-mindedly through Tumblr. With so much draining your cognitive resources on a daily basis, don’t you just wish you could sit down and stare at the night sky for a while?

Pure Bathing Culture draws their inspiration from nature, factoring heavily into the dreamlike atmosphere of their music. Cymbal clashes rise like waves on an oceanic horizon. Every strum of the guitar sounds less like vibrating steel and more like shimmering crimson clouds.

We’ve been taught to think that spirituality is hokey, a mental deception to get people to buy incense and those Lifescapes CDs you see at Target. But there’s a reason you see all those stupid motivational posters in offices and why their ubiquity soon became a universally-known meme. People yearn for restitution. The ethereal world on Moon Tides is about the closest you can come to that beach sunrise without hitting Beach Blvd. eastbound at 5:00 AM.

Which I do recommend.

Recommended if you like: Beach House, Cocteau Twins, Exitmusic
Check out: “Dream The Dare,” “Pendulum,” “Scotty”

Free Song Download via Soundcloud