Braids - Lemonade / Native Speaker

We can already pen in Braids’ debut album ‘Native Speaker’ as one of the finest of the year – it is a lush, evolving opening chapter of a potentially remarkable band, occupying itself with the joys of making love, finding friends, getting to know the ins and out of the people you know. If that’s not enough of a persuasive description, the double A-side release of the album’s two finest songs ought to do the trick.

The record’s opener, ‘Lemonade’ is awash with the rich, textured synthetics that define the rest of the album. Vocals are teasing, focused on rhyme and rhythm, Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s sweet, sweeping vocals filled with lust and energy. Standell-Preston is what makes Braids an intriguing act. Were she not present, ‘Native Speaker’ would come off like some cheap re-incarnation of Animal Collective’s ‘Feels’, but instead, her direct, in-your-face vocal technique makes the whole thing enchanting.

‘Native Speaker’, the album’s title-track and centrepiece, revolves around a drawn-out delay sample, gradually built upon with cleansing guitars, wave upon wave of reverb, Standell-Preston musing “and my, my, my, my, it feels good…” - she is completely in control it all. Within a dark setting, headphones on, you can appreciate the song for just how good it really is.

These are two of the year’s most fascinating songs and they ought to persuade you, without hesitation, to indulge in the rest of the album.