Biography
Braids rank among Canada’s most celebrated experimental pop ensembles, fusing dream pop, electronic textures, and the expressive vocals of Raphaelle Standell-Preston into music that is both sensual and intellectually resonant. Their debut album, Native Speaker, cut in 2011 while the members were barely out of their teens, displayed an elaborate yet open-ended approach that drew widespread praise and invited parallels with Björk and Animal Collective. Subsequent releases grew increasingly singular and emotionally direct, moving from the measured electro-pop studies of grief and resilience on Flourish//Perish in 2013 to the earthy warmth and restorative tone of the Juno Award-winning Deep in the Iris in 2015. The guitar-driven intensity of Shadow Offering in 2020 and the fluid electro-acoustic reflections of Euphoric Recall in 2023 underscored that, regardless of stylistic range, intense feeling remained the core impulse behind their work.
The future members of Braids first connected in 2006 while attending Western Canada High School in Calgary, Alberta; Standell-Preston and drummer Austin Tufts had already been friends since middle school. Bassist Taylor Smith, keyboardist Katie Lee, and Vince Man rounded out the original lineup, then operating under the name Neighbourhood Council. Early performances, notably their appearance at the first Sled Island Music Festival in 2007, prompted them to prioritize music over immediate university plans. After Man’s exit, the group tracked their debut EP, Set Pieces, at the University of Calgary’s campus station CJSW; its July 2008 release and a supporting slot for Deerhunter at that year’s Sled Island festival generated additional recognition.
In September 2008 the band moved to Montreal. Now called Braids, they began shaping their first full-length while Tufts, Smith, and Lee studied at McGill University. During this period they issued a split 7-inch with Blue Hawaii—Standell-Preston’s collaboration with Alex “Agor” Cowan—on Arbutus Records. Securing releases through Chad VanGaalen’s Flemish Eye imprint in Canada and Kanine Records in the United States, they unveiled Native Speaker in January 2011. Its expansive marriage of dream pop and electronics earned acclaim, including a Polaris Music Prize shortlist placement and two Juno Award nominations. Later that year the band released split singles with Hey Rosetta! and Purity Ring.
Following extensive touring in support of Native Speaker, Braids devoted most of 2012 to their sophomore album. In December they issued the Conditions One EP, a joint project with producer Max Cooper. During those sessions Lee departed the group. The June 2013 In Kind//Amends EP previewed the more streamlined aesthetic they pursued on Flourish//Perish, which appeared that August. Although work on a third album began concurrently with Flourish//Perish, the project spanned multiple locations—Vermont, upstate New York, and the mountains of Arizona—before reaching completion. Released in April 2015, Deep in the Iris favored an organic palette that foregrounded Standell-Preston’s candid songwriting and earned the 2016 Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. The aptly titled Companion EP later that year, drawn from material written during the Deep in the Iris sessions, extended this intimate direction.
After Companion’s release and tour, Standell-Preston concentrated on Blue Hawaii, whose album Tenderness surfaced in 2017. In 2018 she, Tufts, and Smith reunited with Lee, confronting the conditions of her departure through an arts-centered anti-oppression workshop. The trio also commenced work on their fourth album, enlisting Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla as co-producer and engineer after he made studio space available in Montreal. Issued on Secret City Records in June 2020, Shadow Offering presented some of the band’s most forceful and developed material to date. A DJ Python remix of “Young Buck” followed in February 2021, succeeded by the standalone single “Slayer Moon/2020” in March. Tufts also contributed to Tim Hecker’s score for the 2022 miniseries The North Water. For their next record, Braids explored the restorative force of new love alongside the dialogue between live and electronic instruments. Self-produced and incorporating string arrangements written and scored by the band itself, Euphoric Recall appeared in April 2023.
The future members of Braids first connected in 2006 while attending Western Canada High School in Calgary, Alberta; Standell-Preston and drummer Austin Tufts had already been friends since middle school. Bassist Taylor Smith, keyboardist Katie Lee, and Vince Man rounded out the original lineup, then operating under the name Neighbourhood Council. Early performances, notably their appearance at the first Sled Island Music Festival in 2007, prompted them to prioritize music over immediate university plans. After Man’s exit, the group tracked their debut EP, Set Pieces, at the University of Calgary’s campus station CJSW; its July 2008 release and a supporting slot for Deerhunter at that year’s Sled Island festival generated additional recognition.
In September 2008 the band moved to Montreal. Now called Braids, they began shaping their first full-length while Tufts, Smith, and Lee studied at McGill University. During this period they issued a split 7-inch with Blue Hawaii—Standell-Preston’s collaboration with Alex “Agor” Cowan—on Arbutus Records. Securing releases through Chad VanGaalen’s Flemish Eye imprint in Canada and Kanine Records in the United States, they unveiled Native Speaker in January 2011. Its expansive marriage of dream pop and electronics earned acclaim, including a Polaris Music Prize shortlist placement and two Juno Award nominations. Later that year the band released split singles with Hey Rosetta! and Purity Ring.
Following extensive touring in support of Native Speaker, Braids devoted most of 2012 to their sophomore album. In December they issued the Conditions One EP, a joint project with producer Max Cooper. During those sessions Lee departed the group. The June 2013 In Kind//Amends EP previewed the more streamlined aesthetic they pursued on Flourish//Perish, which appeared that August. Although work on a third album began concurrently with Flourish//Perish, the project spanned multiple locations—Vermont, upstate New York, and the mountains of Arizona—before reaching completion. Released in April 2015, Deep in the Iris favored an organic palette that foregrounded Standell-Preston’s candid songwriting and earned the 2016 Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. The aptly titled Companion EP later that year, drawn from material written during the Deep in the Iris sessions, extended this intimate direction.
After Companion’s release and tour, Standell-Preston concentrated on Blue Hawaii, whose album Tenderness surfaced in 2017. In 2018 she, Tufts, and Smith reunited with Lee, confronting the conditions of her departure through an arts-centered anti-oppression workshop. The trio also commenced work on their fourth album, enlisting Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla as co-producer and engineer after he made studio space available in Montreal. Issued on Secret City Records in June 2020, Shadow Offering presented some of the band’s most forceful and developed material to date. A DJ Python remix of “Young Buck” followed in February 2021, succeeded by the standalone single “Slayer Moon/2020” in March. Tufts also contributed to Tim Hecker’s score for the 2022 miniseries The North Water. For their next record, Braids explored the restorative force of new love alongside the dialogue between live and electronic instruments. Self-produced and incorporating string arrangements written and scored by the band itself, Euphoric Recall appeared in April 2023.
Albums
Vibin
2023
Euphoric Recall
2023
Shadow Offering
2020
Collarbones / Burdock & Dandelion
2018
Companion
2016
Deep In the Iris
2015
Flourish // Perish
2013
In Kind // Amends
2013
Singles
