New album from Braids fits the times
Calgary expats Braids open up, capture live vibe on fourth album
On the song Snow Angel by Calgary expats Braids, singer Raphaelle Standell-preston ends the song with a sudden burst of spoken-word performance that seems timely, if not eerily prescient.
The song was presumably penned long before both the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and anti-black racism protesters took to the streets around the globe. Nevertheless, behind jagged synth, guitar spikes and a jittery beat, the tightly coiled pop song has Standell-preston engaging in the sort of outward fury and honest self-assessment that seems widespread these past few weeks.
“Whole world is going to sh-t; this white girl contributes to it,” she says at one point. “Amongst all the madness, the chaos; the need to march in the streets,” she says at another.
After references to closed borders, fake news and indoctrination, she says “Am I only just realizing the injustice that exists? Cloaked in white privilege since the day I was born.”
It may have been written long before mass protests highlighted questions about how to best be an ally and show solidarity against anti-black racism. But it’s hard to imagine a song better reflecting a generation’s soul-searching and growing recognition of the need for change. Snow Angel was released in late March as a single, just as it was becoming clear that COVID-19 would be putting the world on pause for the foreseeable future. So the timing was strangely ideal, Standell-preston says.
“It’s what’s been going on for a long time,” she says, in an interview from her home in Montreal. “I think now that we’re standing still, we’re all feeling it a lot more. We are all confronted with what it is that I was screaming about on the song. Stillness brings about a lot of time to think and process. COVID has been helpful in that regard.”
Releasing a record as the world is either still in lockdown or just groggily emerging from it, on the other hand, probably isn’t ideal. But Braids, the Calgary-born trio that also features multi-instrumentalist Taylor Smith and drummer Austin Tufts, is trying to find a silver lining when it comes to the June 19 release of its fourth record, Shadow Offering.
True, the album was going to be supported by lengthy tours throughout North America and Europe and, if all went as planned, into Asia. Also, the band set out to give Shadow Offering more of a live vibe than previous efforts, which meant Standell-preston, Tufts and Smith were looking forward to basing shows around the nine songs on the album.
“As soon as it’s safe to do so, we’re going to go everywhere,” says Tufts.
“The plan is still very much to bring these songs to the stage and show what we’ve been working on to our fans around the world. Hopefully, this gives everybody a little bit longer to listen and sit with the record and dive deep into it and love it and find the things that resonate with them about it. Then, when we actually do come through, everybody will have had a chance to sit with it. It’s definitely a different experience than going out and touring a record right on top of your release where everybody is just getting to know your album.”
Recorded in the band’s Montreal headquarters — named Studio Toute Garnie, after the French-canadian term used to order a pizza fully garnished — Shadow Offerings marks the first time the trio enlisted an outside co-producer. Chris Walla, the former guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie and a producer known for his work with Tegan and Sara, Gord Downie and The Decemberists, was brought in to help the band achieve the sounds and energy of its live performances. But Walla’s input went beyond simply capturing the band in the studio. Standell-preston says the producer also had a hand in taking apart songs, even the ones that the band thought were already studio-ready.
“Chris was like, ‘You guys have got to go back to the drawing board and throw a bunch of stuff at it and re-envision things and challenge yourselves and use amplifiers,” she says with a laugh. “He threw a bunch of effects pedals at us. We thought they were done.”
Still, while the arrangements might seem a touch more streamlined than the multilayered and occasionally intricate sounds of the past, Shadow Offering plays off the band’s strengths.
Standell-preston’s vocals are boldly upfront. She maintains a seamless ability to convey anger, humour, sensuality and defiance, often within the same song. Flowing piano ballads such as Eclipse (Ashley) sit aside unusually straightforward gems such as Young Buck and more eccentric art-pop numbers such as Fear of Men. Walla put emphasis on having the instrumental tracks fully support the vocals. There’s not a lot of fat on these songs.
“It really allowed Raph to stretch out and get angry or get sexy or get sassy and lean into these things because we were there supporting her doing that,” Tufts says.
Of course, Braids have had a long time to develop this synergy and interplay. The band formed under the name the Neighbourhood Council while Standell-preston and Tufts were students at Western Canada High School and relocated to Montreal 12 years ago, initially so they could attend Mcgill University.
A loyal cult following, Juno Awards, Polaris Prize shortlists and critical acclaim has followed. But Standell-preston says Shadow Offering marks a bit of a new beginning for the band, particularly in the studio.
“It was so much more fun than just multitracking,” she says. “It was a lot more rewarding, a lot more visceral, a lot more palpable. We are definitely going to continue doing that moving forward. There’s a lot of energy between players. It’s a really special thing to capture that.”
Shadow Offering is out June 19 on all streaming services.
We are all confronted with what it is that I was screaming about on the song. Stillness brings about a lot of time to think and process.