Although the title track from BRAIDS’ forthcoming comeback EP, Companion, may not maintain the immediacy of, for instance, the forever-intense Deep In the Iris, it once again demonstrates the immense maturity to the Albertan trio’s songwriting credentials. And these are rendered all the more discernible by Austin Tufts’ abstaining from drumming, allowing for wallowing swells of synthetic melancholy to combine beautifully with Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s irreproachable, superlatively versatile delivery vocal. Of course, this more pared-down approach has served BRAIDS incredibly well prior to now, just as it does below, with Companion reminiscent, in places, of Girl (Flourish // Perish) or a less nebulous A Dawn in Me (In Kind / Amends), but the apparent transparency applied to this latest effort makes their irresistible brilliance all the more impossible to ignore or, for that matter, negate…
Companion will be available from May 20th via Arbutus Records / FLEMISH EYE, while BRAIDS play The Pickle Factory on June 23rd [INFO/TICKETS].