Damon Sheeley, otherwise known as The Bear & The Sea, may be a nature boy, born of the Pacific Northwest – bred on the hazy gray waters of both the sea and the air and inspired thusly – but he was also raised on jazz, 80s synth-pop, Mama’s classical music, MTV, and poverty. This, my friends, is a standard formula for what you’ll hear in his music – bombination, woozy soul, pure Oregonian modular muddiness, and rock-steady gumption.

There’s something inherently lonesome about the creation of electronic music. Lonesome. What an overcast, heartsick word. A word laced with dejection and prolapsed personalities, shoegazing eyes and sweaty, trembling hands shoved in pockets. A rainy day word for the wistful and solitary.

But for Sheeley, it so clearly isn’t about the state of being alone, but more the state of things: the sea, the trees, wires, sand, leaves, grass, dirt, circuits, the wind and the birds. If he could play live for you, deep in the woods or at the end of a long pier, he would. This isn’t sad or asocial; it’s strictly visceral.

So we suggest meeting him there in spirit, near the sea, with dewy lungs and wild expectations. Close your eyes, let your hair dampen, and listen.