At their most powerful: Braids live in London
Braids’ new instinct for pop hasn’t dulled their ability to create thrilling, ambitious songs.
Tonight (24th November) at the Scala in London, the trio create smart and mesmerising arrangements to back the hooks of their latest record, melding nicely with their artier early material.
It’s hard to pick a standout between the sensational vocal and the live drum work. The range of Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s vocal is arresting – roaring with power at one moment, the lightest touch at the next. And the rhythmic versatility of these songs is fabulous – sudden drum rolls hurtling out of nowhere; peppered with left turn lurches into jazz and outright bombast.
A new song – “about divorce” – strips everything right back to Standell-Preston’s vocal and a smattering of electronics, showcasing her ability to be tender as well as textural. It hints at a further move towards songs as songs, rather than soundscapes, but without compromising their inventiveness. Closing ‘Miniskirt’ is a perfect example of this – bringing together everything they do well, in their most powerful package to date.
Setlist:
Happy When
Taste
Sore Eyes
Blondie
Bunny Rose
Plath Heart
Companion
Warm Like Summer
Miniskirt
- Watch Jeffrey Martin cover Neil Young in session at End of the Road Festival
- Hohnen Ford joins forces with Birdy on new collaborative single, "A Lot to Give"
- King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard detail forthcoming album, Phantom Island
- Chartreuse return with new single, "Sequence of Voices"
- TLC musical, CrazySexyCool, to premiere next year in Washington D.C.
- Demise Of Love share second single, "Be A Man"
- Pan Amsterdam shares new single, "NYC Town"
Get the Best Fit take on the week in music direct to your inbox every Friday
Tunde Adebimpe
Thee Black Boltz
Julien Baker & TORRES
Send A Prayer My Way
Bon Iver
SABLE, fABLE
