Braids - Miniskirt

The Montreal three-piece have always worn their hearts on their sleeves, but they've never sounded so political and so angry.

Braids have returned to the sound of their first album, 2011's unforgettably emotionally resonant and churning 'Native Speaker' with the song Miniskirt, the first song to appear from the Montreal three-piece's new album, 'Deep In The Iris'.

Starting off as a swaggering, boiling piano pounder, singer Raphaelle Standell returns to the blunt, quotable words of their debut, except this time they are more rallying, there's more at stake: words like "choked", "bitch", "womanizer", "Casanova", and "slut", and lines like I'm not a man-hater, I enjoy them like cake and If I'm wearing red and if I am you feel you've the right to touch me cause I asked for it pierce through the track with fervor, synths rising with each line and piano stab.

After this meteoric, manifesto-like opening, things settle down again, with piano then quietly modulating synths easing us into the second half of the the song. The words don't lighten though: when Standell sings, I thank you Canada, in this almost Alanis Morisette-way, Braids have never been so political and so angry.

Braids have always been a heart-on-its-sleeve band, but this is a rousing new side to them. It feels like we know them better now than ever before. Happy fucking Valentine's Day.

Arbutus Records/Flemish Eye release 'Deep In The Iris' on April 27th 2015 (pre-order).

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