Youthful Canadian four piece Braids are band that like to let their music do the talking. They met a few years ago while still at high school and have moved across their homeland perfecting their sound. And what a sound it is: big shoegaze-infused dream pop fills the room. It sounds surprisingly lush in what is a relatively small club venue. They only look up on occasion to gesture instructions to the sound man and acknowledge one another.
They’re here in support of their critically acclaimed debut album Native Speaker. There is a Cocteau Twins feel to the ethereal vocals of singer/guitarist Raphaelle Standell-Preston and the Keyboardist Katie Lee but with more of an electronic feel to the music like Dirty Projectors or School of Seven Bells.
Fan and bloggers favourite ‘Lemonade’ swirls with twinkling synths, big beats, breathy vocals and post-rock guitar all intersecting. ‘Plath Heart’ follows in a similar vein, but with a catchier almost purer pop feel.
The album’s title track’ Native speaker’ is hypnotic, with layered, almost choral male and female vocals all overlapping.
They are sonically ambitious, and with all the different and strange sounds to take in it’s easy to miss some of the interesting wordplay in their lyrics. This is evident, in the more minimal songs like ‘Glass Deers’ but then again, they’re not really moving in the realm of the sing-along chorus.
‘Lammicken’ has the kind of cold, electronic urgency about it that reminds me of Homogenic-era Björk and is a bit of a jolt from the dreamlike state of some of their more delicate offerings.
I only hope they can overcome their shyness and enjoy their growing popularity, as they will be playing to crowds bigger than this before long. Braids are one band I would have cut class to go and practice with, given half the chance.