For fans of: Sleepaway, Grizzly Bear, and Local Natives
After experimenting with different sounds and genres for a couple years, Braeves came to a mixture of folk, indie rock, dream pop, and other sounds that make up what became Braeves’ debut EP Drifting by Design. This Mike Watts (The Dear Hunter, As Tall As Lions) produced release glides listeners through the 5 songs, in which singer Ryan Colt Levy’s voice drifts over each track. Closing out the quartet is bassist Derek Tramont, Thomas Killian McPhillips IIV on the drums, and Nick LaFalce on guitar and keys, who together create songs that are as well-crafted lyrically as they are musically.
The songs fit together beautifully, kicking off with “Guest of the Gun,” whose strong structure is echoed in the final track, “While Your Body Sleeps,” in pauses and builds between the verses and chorus. “Talk Like Strangers” is much moodier than “Guest of the Gun,” painting a picture of two people who were once close, falling apart. “We talk like strangers in empty storylines,” Levy sings. The chorus describes an unrest in a relationship, but the song itself sounds much like a goodbye. The mellow sounds continue in “Souls in Transit,” but build back up in “Iron Hands,” which lends the EP’s title in the chorus.
Fans of Local Natives, Grizzly Bear, As Tall As Lions, and The Shins will likely find a song that tickles their fancy in this EP.
Release Date: September 9, 2014
Rating: 5/5
Runtime: ~21 minutes
Check Out: “Talk Like Strangers”
Track listing:
1. Guest of the Gun
2. Talk Like Strangers
3. Souls in Transit
4. Iron Hands
5. While Your Body Sleeps
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Written by Carina Browder
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