When writing about Rainwater in the past, we’ve described the act as the solo project of Blake Luley. Their debut album Swimming in Sunlight, released in 2016 on Furious Hooves, explored the trials Luley faced growing up in Brooklyn, the record painting the anxiety and doubt of that time as a process through which hope and new life might be born. Follow-up EP, Place, was the natural progression of such a mindset, tracking Luley as he relocated to the Pacific Northwest and serving as a chronicle of the bittersweet perspective a new start can bring.
Rainwater are back with a brand new record, and the transformation has been ongoing in their absence. Again released with Furious Hooves, Saturn Returns sees Luley embrace a newly-collaborative style, welcoming Stephen Steen, James Kasinger and Amy and Drew Fitchette into the fold to cement Rainwater’s status as a full band. For the astrologically-minded, ‘Saturn return’ refers to the period when Saturn is restored to the position it occupied during one’s birth, supposedly ushering in a time of change and growth that can trigger a kind of self-actualisation, or even rebirth. Saturn Returns finds Rainwater in such a state, changing into a truer version of itself as Luley takes stock of his new home and relationships.
We’ve previously described the Rainwater sound as something of an amalgamation of dream rock, post-rock and folk (where “melancholy and hope ac[t] as counterbalances, light and dark swirling through one another in complex patterns”) and Saturn Returns leans further into the diverse sound. With the added heft of the band members, the arrangements are rich and heartfelt, permeated by a strange cousin of nostalgia that registers as a kind of fond melancholy for the present. “Now more than ever,” reads their bio, “Rainwater just sound like themselves.”
We’re pleased to share the lead single, ‘Pink Flowers’ in anticipation of the release. Rising out of a crepuscular quiet, the song slowly rises into something insistent and fierce, the dreamy meander of the opening half giving way to rises in tempo joined by impassioned vocals. The track comes with a suitably warm video, shot by Luley in Seattle and Bacalar, Mexico.
I don’t know who I am
I don’t understand
How you know
It’s truly you
Saturn Returns is out on the 7th June via Furious Hooves and you can pre-order it now. Rainwater are playing a few shows too, so check out the dates below and head along if you are in the area.
