Braids - Flourish // Perish '2013

Tracks list

Tracklist:

[3:54] 01. Braids - Victoria
[4:49] 02. Braids - Freund
[4:43] 03. Braids - December
[3:16] 04. Braids - Hossak
[2:55] 05. Braids - Girl
[8:17] 06. Braids - Together
[5:56] 07. Braids - Ebben
[6:04] 08. Braids - Amends
[6:27] 09. Braids - Juniper
[7:49] 10. Braids - In Kind

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ABOUT THE ALBUM
1 disc(s) - 10 track(s)
Total length: 00:54:10
Main artist: Braids
Composer: Various Composers
Label: Full Time Hobby
Genre: Pop/Rock, Rock Alternative & Indie
Hi-Res 24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo
2013 Braids under exclusive license to Full Time Hobby

With a title that reflects the knifes edge between life and death, success and
failure, its not surprising that making Braids second album was a crisis moment
for the band. Following the praise for their lush debut Native Speaker and
intense touring in support of it, creative differences ultimately led guitarist
Katie Lee to leave the group. Plenty of bands could have folded under these
conditions, but on Flourish//Perish, the trio version of Braids opts for the
former instead of the latter. Native Speakers flowing, dreamlike songs were
almost overgrown with sounds and ideas, which the band prunes into more artful,
focused -- and not coincidentally, electronics-heavy -- tracks here. Pulling
back might not sound like the most exciting creative choice, but Braids use
economy even more captivatingly than abundance. The album opener, Victoria,
features vocalist/keyboardist Raphaelle Standell-Prestons most Björk-like
coos and yelps, but she, Taylor Smith, and Austin Tufts are much more restrained
than they were on their debuts quietest moments. Braids new approach truly
arrives on Fruend, where the intertwining of subtle tones and textures reveals
an intricate, quietly compelling beauty that theyve never displayed before. Of
course, Lees departure isnt the only factor in the growth Braids show on
Flourish//Perish; Standell-Prestons work with her other project, Blue Hawaii,
feels like a major influence on both her more nuanced singing and the more
delicate, detailed sounds around it, especially in Junipers frosty atmospheres
and the abstract electronics of the eight-minute centerpiece Together. Somewhat
poignantly, the final tracks Braids recorded with Lee -- which were released
before Flourish//Perish as the In Kind/Amends EP -- are also some of the albums
brightest highlights. The melody of Amends is already tender before
Standell-Preston pleads We have come so far/Dont throw this and the synths
sparkle and flow like tears, while the alternately soothing and soaring In Kind
offers a hopeful, if not exactly happy, ending. That these songs sound the most
like Native Speaker and appear on the albums Perish side feels like a
celebration of what Braids had as a quartet and what they needed to move past to
continue as a trio. Sometimes some things need to perish for others to flourish,
and these songs show that Standell-Preston, Smith, and Tufts evolved into a
group that can not just survive, but thrive in the face of hard times.
© Heather Phares /TiVo


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