Up to this point Braids have always seemed more alluring on paper than on record but things are changing for the Canadian 3-piece. New album ‘Flourish // Perish’ appears to point a dramatic way forward that its title only half gets right (the living half). The starting point should be this piece of experimentation that channels the ghosts of Liz Frazer (Cocteau Twins) and Sugarcubes era Bjork. I mention spirits specifically because Raphaelle Standell-Preston switches from one incarnation to the other without meeting at the centre at any stage. With such grandiose vocal characterisation the music could so easily have been sidelined but in a knowing twist it often comes across as an offbeat take on the Sunday’s glitchy indieism. ‘In Kind’ is brave, complex, innovative and about as devastating as music gets in 2013. And all this from a band without a compos mentis website. KD
Braids – In Kind
More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Braids
Year: 2013
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