Album Review :: Braids :: Euphoric Recall

by Daniel Kussy

Raphaelle Standell-Preston cries aloud a prolonged “Oh My God” to introduce the space-y free-flowing “Left/Right.” A sudden blink in lyrical flow once “illuminated on the mountain top: Mont Royal” spills like a panic of spacial hyper-awareness as the strings wash over the synth floor, the acknowledgement of footsteps which the song title points to. A track with such spontaneity feeds into a theme within Euphoric Recall; the abandonment of strategy, burning away the structures and embracing the impulses, and welcoming imperfections. A move seemingly necessary to exercise the pandemic demons many artists endured, Euphoric Recall follows 2020’s “Shadow Offering,” one of many albums created with hopes of support in the form of performances and subsequent touring that got washed out in the pandemic noise. In the demand for patience and space, this album is also an urgency for movement, injected from a lingering groove-based pulse from Standell-Prestons’ fluid-motion side project Blue Hawaii.

Continue reading “Album Review :: Braids :: Euphoric Recall”

FOUND: Braids Play Paintball (not actually)

Braids are still off touring one of our favourite records of the year, Native Speaker, doing the NXNE and Sled Island bit before heading off to the EU. Check out this video for “Plath Heart” which takes place inside a paintball arena. Unfortunately, the Montreal-via-Calgary band doesn’t play paintball, or even get shot at (which is all the rage lately) but this is an extremely cinematic, colourful, high quality video of their intricate live performance.