Braids: Eclipse (Ashley)
The Juno-winning Montreal art-rockers return with a new track featuring ethereal vocals and lush production.
By Kerry Doole
Braids - Eclipse (Ashley): This is the first music in quite some time from the highly-touted Montreal-based indie art rock band, and it teases a new album releasing next year on Secret City Records.
Singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston explains in a press release that "Eclipse (Ashley) is a love song made for my best friend Ashley Obscura. During the car ride to go and view the total solar eclipse, we were fretting about not having glasses to stare at the sun, you know, those funny ones that look like you’re sitting down to watch a 3D movie. Amongst the chatter Ashley said 'we should take this opportunity to think about what eclipses us in our lives.'"
"Bam. Refocus. We all took this sentiment with us as we sat on the side of the quarry, as the moon came to hug the sun.' We sat in silence perched amongst the tall grass, the wildflowers, the rocks and glistening water, closed eyes, reflecting. Returning to the studio, the song poured out of us in one shot."
Standell-Preston's ethereal yet strong vocals are placed amidst a lush production, while the pastoral setting of the accompanying video is similarly verdant. Kate Bush fans are sure to find this appealing.
Braids, comprising Standell-Preston, Austin Tufts, and Taylor Smith, formed in 2007 in Alberta. Their adventurous sound has netted two Polaris Music Prize shortlistings and earned them the 2016 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. It has travelled well too, via appearances at major fests like Glastonbury and SXSW, and fawning notices in Pitchfork, NPR, New York Times, NME, The Guardian and more.
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Publicity: Killbeat
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