BRAIDS ‘Native Speaker’ UK release 4th April
aaamusic | On 18, Mar 2011
Native Speaker the debut long player from justifiably tipped Canadian quartet BRAIDS started as a musical experiment, now several years on, the results of that experiment are being gloriously realised. Native Speaker will be released in the UK April 4th on Kanine Records. (Chairlift, Grizzly Bear, Surfer Blood)
BRAIDS was formed by four best friends (Raphaelle Standell-Preston: lead vocals & guitar: Austin Tufts: drums & vocals: Katie Lee: keys & vocals: Taylor Smith: bass, guitar, drums & vocals) in their last year of High School in Calgary, Alberta. Convincing one another to skip university, they stayed in the garage all year and practiced obsessively, even while their fingers froze during the cold prairie winters.
Then, at only 18 years old, they took the bold step of moving across the country together to Montreal, where they began crafting the self-recorded/self-produced Native Speaker. BRAIDS were greeted with open arms by the forerunners of Montreal’s underground alternative art scene.
Once you hear BRAIDS you’ll wonder how you ever got by without them, theirs is an endless sound oscillating between density and spaciousness. Native Speaker is filled with radical texture and startling immediacy, Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s idiosyncratic vocals perfectly joins the albums eccentricity and accessibility.
BRAIDS have spent the last few months wowing audiences across America with their live show, including tastemakers at this year’s CMJ, BRAIDS will continue to tour The US throughout February culminating in a not to be missed performance at SXSW. Details of a UK tour to be announced shortly.
