BRAIDS play the Comfort Zone tonight (Thursday, June 13) at 11 pm as part of NXNE. Rating: NNN
It’s only a four-song 12-inch, but In Kind//Amends seems like it was a long time coming. It’s been just two years since BRAIDS’ debut album, Native Speaker, earned them a boatload of online praise and a spot on that year’s Polaris short list, but it feels longer. For starters, their Montreal “weird pop” scene has since exploded, putting them ahead of the curve. And they went through an upheaval when founding keyboardist Katie Lee left the band.
BRAIDS used to lean on the liquid interplay between Lee and Raphaelle Standell-Preston, so it’s not shocking that the new material is heading in the more electronic direction of Standell-Preston’s other project, Blue Hawaii. In Kind – a live staple since at least the 2011 Polaris gala – is the only track with guitars, while Amends is surprisingly slinky and beat-based (though still showing off Standell-Preston’s impressive falsetto). Meanwhile, A Dawn In Me is almost entirely ambient, sending them in an even more New Age direction.
Top track: In Kind
