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NBHAP Rating: 3/5
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[one_half last=”yes”]BRAIDS
Deep In The Iris
Release-Date: 27.04.2015
Label: Arbutus Records
Tracklist:
01. Letting Go
02. Taste
03. Blondie
04. Happy When
05. Miniskirt
06. Getting Tired
07. Sore Eyes
08. Bunny Rose
09. Warm Like Summer
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Deep in the Iris
With Deep in the Iris the experimental pop trio from Canada present their third album in nine years. In a very colorful and rhythmic way they touch upon heavy topics, never losing sight of the bigger picture. The album is dreamy, at times very poppy and sounds like a vision coming from somewhere we don’t know anything about. Deep in the Iris is a selection of songs that could be background music to sit in your room and ponder. But the trio manages to lift it up to a collection of qualitative songs, in both an up-beat and romantic way. The album can stand on itself and finds a balance between a musical pop theatre and plain strong stories to be told.
Strong vulnerability
Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s voice is lovely. As simple as that. It is emotional and intense; basically it is a voice one tells bedtime stories with. It suits the song selection perfectly and is as strong as we need it to be when singing about intense topics. It might be the main reason why we would listen to this album entirely. With Deep in the Iris BRAIDS stay within a particular genre of psychedelic synthpop what at times is a bit lengthy and one might have to ‘work’ through it. But overall the album is enjoyable and a thinker for sure.
Miniskirt
We have touched upon the strong vulnerability of Standell-Preston’s voice but this strength is also represented in the lyrics of BRAIDS on this particular album. Especially the lyrics from Miniskirt are worth listening to carefully. Hell, they could be an open letter to society if BRAIDS would have wanted that. The song is an indictment about the objectification of women and the ease men can get away with that. The emotional and powerful voice that tells this story, wins the race. The loaded energy coming from electrifying topics as these, surely are a beautiful extra to this album.
Beautiful sounds and strong storytelling are coming together on BRAIDS’ ‘Deep in the Iris.’
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