High Places may have fled New York for California, but they can’t stay away from the city that spawned them. The two-piece band performed a session and interview for WNYC’s Soundcheck, which included a brand new song titled “Oceanus.” The track is the result of a commission from the magazine Esopus, which challenged them to write a song based on a specific dream.

Singer Mary Pearson describes High Places as “two city dwellers who love nature” in the accompanying interview to the session, which is a perfect summation of their sound. “Oceanus” is full of samples of waves and birds chirping, about which Pearson says: “We use a lot of sounds from nature. And I think our subject matter is often more about the natural world than human interactions.”

The two songs from the session are currently streaming at the WNYC website.

[via The Music Slut]