News
Euphoric Recall Due Out This Friday via Secret City
Apr 26, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Montreal experimental pop trio Braids are releasing a new album, Euphoric Recall, this Friday via Secret City. Now they have shared the album’s fourth single, “Lucky Star,” via a music video. More
Issue 71 Also Features Interviews with Angel Olsen, M83, The New Pornographers, John Cale, Indigo De Souza, Lael Neale, Phoenix, Dry Cleaning, Miss Grit, Sleaford Mods, The WAEVE, Shame, Bartees Strange, Caroline Rose, and More
Apr 05, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our new print issue, Issue 71, which features Weyes Blood and Black Belt Eagle Scout on the two covers. Issue 71 also features interviews with Angel Olsen, M83, The New Pornographers, John Cale, Indigo De Souza, Lael Neale, Phoenix, Dry Cleaning, Miss Grit, Sleaford Mods, The WAEVE, Shame, Bartees Strange, Caroline Rose, Stella Donnelly, Florist, Hot Chip, black midi, Jockstrap, Horsegirl, Blondshell, Sleaford Mods, Beth Orton, and others. More
Plus Braids; Mandy, Indiana; Sparks; Momma; and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Mar 03, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Welcome to the ninth Songs of the Week of 2023. There were quite a few strong contenders this week. We were especially enamored by the top two. More
Euphoric Recall Due Out April 28 via Secret City
Mar 01, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Montreal experimental pop trio Braids are releasing a new album, Euphoric Recall, on April 28 via Secret City. Now they have shared the album’s third single, “Apple,” via a music video. More
Plus The National, Wednesday, Braids, Murray A. Lightburn, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Jan 20, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Welcome to the third Songs of the Week of 2023. It was a stacked week for new songs and album announcements. Boygenius alone released three songs to consider! There were enough tracks we liked that we settled on a super-sized Top 13 this week. More
Euphoric Recall Due Out April 28 via Secret City
Jan 18, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Montreal experimental pop trio Braids have announced a new album, Euphoric Recall, and shared a new song from it, “Evolution,” via a music video. More
Plus Braids, Imarhan, The Beths, Ezra Furman, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Aug 19, 2022
By Mark Redfern (with Joey Arnone)
Welcome to the 31st Songs of the Week of 2022. This week’s list covers songs from the last two weeks, as I was on vacation last week. This week we’re doing things slightly differently, with just a main Top 12 list and some honorable mentions, without the longer list of songs also released in the last week. More
The Band Will Be Supporting Future Islands on Several European Tour Dates
Aug 11, 2022
By Joey Arnone
Montreal trio Braids have shared a new single, “Retriever.” More
Issue 68 Out Now and Also Includes Julien Baker, Wolf Alice, Tegan and Sara, Arlo Parks, Fleet Foxes, Jessie Ware, Shamir, Lucy Dacus, Valerie June, David Byrne, Julian Casablancas, and Much More
Apr 21, 2021
By Mark Redfern
Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our new print issue, which is out now nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere) and available to buy directly from us here. The issue features Japanese Breakfast and HAIM on the two covers and is another edition of The Protest Issue, which examines the intersection of music and politics and features musicians photographed with protest signs of their own making. More
Mar 25, 2021
By Joey Arnone
Montreal trio Braids have shared two new songs, titled “Sailor Moon” and “2020.” The two songs were recorded during the sessions for their most recent album, 2020’s Shadow Offering, and were premiered Tuesday night by the band during a livestream concert on YouTube. More
Shadow Offering Out Now via Secret City; Produced by Chris Walla
Jun 19, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Montreal trio Braids have released a new album, Shadow Offering, today via Secret City. Now that the album is out you can stream the whole thing here. Also, today we posted our Self-Portrait interview with the band. Read the interview here and stream the album below. More
Plus HAIM, Khruangbin, Protomartyr, Glass Animals, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
May 01, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Welcome to the seventeenth Songs of the Week of 2020. It’s another week under quarantine, the same as the last week. Some states, most notably Georgia, are starting to open up again, even though most experts say it’s too soon. More
Shadow Offering Due Out June 19 via Secret City; Produced by Chris Walla
Apr 30, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Montreal trio Braids are releasing a new album, Shadow Offering, on June 19 via Secret City. Now they have shared another song from the album, “Just Let Me,” via a video co-directed by the band’s singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston in her directorial debut. More
Plus Bob Dylan, Man Man, Hamilton Leithauser, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Mar 27, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Welcome to the twelfth Songs of the Week of 2020. It was another scary week out there, as America surpassed China and Italy to become the country with the most COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the world, with 101,242 known U.S. cases at the time of this writing and 1,588 American COVID-19 deaths. Meanwhile the world economy is in tatters and there’s no realistic end to the quarantine in sight, despite what President Trump says about everything opening back up again in time for Easter. More
Shadow Offering Now Due Out June 19 via Secret City; Produced by Chris Walla
Mar 26, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Montreal trio Braids were releasing a new album, Shadow Offering, on April 24 via Secret City, but now they have pushed it back to June 19 due to COVID-19. They have also shared another new song from it, the nine-minute “Snow Angel,” via a video for the track. More
Plus Shopping, Anna Calvi and Courtney Barnett, Braids, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Jan 31, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Welcome to the fourth Songs of the Week of 2020. There are lots of bass-heavy dance-y songs in the Top 4 this week. Some of this week’s best tracks were connected to albums newly announced this week, others were standalone singles, or additional new songs from previously announced albums. More
Shadow Offering Due Out April 24 via Secret City; Produced by Chris Walla
Jan 31, 2020
By Christopher Roberts
Montreal trio Braids have announced a new album, Shadow Offering, and shared its first single, “Young Buck,” via a video for the track. Shadow Offering was produced by former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist/producer Chris Walla. More
Companion EP Due Out May 20 via Arbutus/Flemish Eye
Apr 29, 2016
By Christopher Roberts
Montreal trio Braids have announced a new EP, entitled Companion, that’s due out May 20 via Arbutus/Flemish Eye. They have shared a video for the title track and announced some tour dates. The EP features four songs recorded during the sessions for 2014’s Deep In the Iris. More
Deep In the Iris Out Now via Arbutus
Jul 22, 2015
By Christopher Roberts
Montreal trio Braids released their third album, Deep In the Iris, back in April. Now they have announced a slew of fall tour dates that take in Canada and both American coasts. More
Plus Clips from Flying Saucer Attack, Eternal Summers, Omar Souleyman, Daughn Gibson, Johanna Warren, JEFF The Brotherhood, and Others
Jun 03, 2015
By Christopher Roberts
So many new music videos are released these days that we simply can’t do individual write-ups on all of them. Collected here are some videos shared in the last couple of days that we weren’t able to otherwise post to our site. The clips include puppets, people covered in honey, astronauts, a really long braid, and a spoof of videos from the ‘90s. More
Outtake Off Flourish // Perish
Apr 28, 2014
By Mike Hilleary
Last year ethereal electronic outfit BRAIDS released their sophomore LP Flourish // Perish. More
This Weekend in Utrecht, Netherlands
Nov 29, 2013
By Laura Studarus
This weekend, Utrecht, Netherlands is hosting the Le Guess Who? Festival. We sent writer/photographer Laura Studarus down to cover the action. More
November 28-December 1 in Utrecht, Netherlands
Nov 27, 2013
By Laura Studarus
Tomorrow, Under the Radar will head over to the Netherlands to check out Le Guess Who? Festival. In honor of our trek, we asked a few of our favorite musicians performing at the festival to introduce us to a few of their favorite musicians via our ongoing mixtape project. More
Including Pure Bathing Culture, White Hills, and Larry Gus
Aug 15, 2013
By Scott Dransfield
Several new albums are streaming in advance of their release next week. More
New Album Flourish // Perish out Aug. 20
Aug 07, 2013
By Mike Hilleary
Following their 2011 Mercury Prize-nominated debut Native Speaker, Canadian electro experimentalists BRAIDS will release their sophomore album Flourish // Perish on Aug. 20. More
Apr 29, 2013
By Mike Hilleary
Calgary trio BRAIDS have returned following the release of their 2011 debut Native Speaker with a new 12’‘ In Kind // Amends. More
Out October 10 Via Fat Possum
Aug 26, 2011
By Laura Studarus
Today Purity Ring (a “Pleased to Meet You” artist in our current issue) announced a split 7” with BRAIDS. We have the details. More
Interviews
Apr 28, 2023
By Mark Redfern
To end the week, we ask Raphaelle Standell-Preston of Braids some questions about endings and death. More
Jun 19, 2020
By Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Austin Tufts
For our recurring Self-Portrait feature, we ask musicians to take a self-portrait photo (or paint/draw a self-portrait) and write a list of personal things about themselves, things that their fans might not already know about them. This Self-Portrait is by Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Austin Tufts of Braids. The whole band also submitted a self-portrait photo. More
Reviews
Apr 24, 2015
By Billy Hamilton
BRAIDS have always felt like the right band at the wrong time. Their first two records—Flourish // Perish and Native Speaker—are remarkable melanges of twitching experimental pop led by Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s spell-casting intonations. More
Dec 02, 2013
By Laura Studarus
While Under the Radar wasn’t able to attend the first day of events due to logistical conflicts, we dove headfirst into the second day (jetlag be damned) and saw impressive sets from Wampire, Connan Mockasin, BRAIDS, and Forest Swords.
Aug 26, 2013
By Paul Bridgewater
BRAIDS’ 2011 debut Native Speaker stood out as an inventive, cerebral take on the syncopated obsessions of their peers. Returning after a foray into side project Blue Hawaii, the Montréal group’s follow up finds them crystallizing their influences and thought processes into one of the most accomplished collections of tracks this year. More