Shadow Offering

Shadow Offering is as bold and lush as the group who composed it, but that should be no surprise: sonic transcendence is what Braids do best.

As Braids' approach to music-making and lyricism continues to explore new musical avenues, Shadow Offering shows some great promise as well as some lessons to be learned.

As Braids' approach to music-making and lyricism continues to explore new musical avenues, Shadow Offering shows some great promise as well as some lessons to be learned.

Occasionally, the band goes for the jugular but winds up succumbing to melodrama instead. Standell-Preston, Austin Tufts, and Taylor Smith are still fantastic musicians, and can be really strong songwriters with weird and interesting ideas, but perhaps they would fare better if they boiled it down to the essentials next time, bask in their specific brand of minimalist rock, and shake off the excess.

The band’s effusiveness often feels torrential, which makes its more inane moments come off as collateral damage. On Shadow Offering, Braids isn’t afraid to steer dangerously close to the eye of the storm.

Demonstrating their versatility throughout the album, Braids locate something of a sweet spot, embracing a restrained plainspokenness without completely veering from the outré flourishes and melancholic, midtempo jams that are their specialty.

A sadder, wiser, and stronger album, Shadow Offering reflects big changes in Braids' world, but proves they're still at their finest when they dig into -- and sit with -- complex emotions.

Fans of Braids and those interested in the kinds of personal, political and artistic struggles this work deals with will enjoy spending time with this new record.

The music is cinematic in scope, offering Armageddon and salvation in turn. [May 2020, p.25]

‘Shadow Offering,’ is beautiful and heartwrenching, pulling on listeners’ heartstrings. The album offers a sanctuary by easing anxiety and fueling hope, acting as a sort of security blanket for these unnerving times.

A luscious, intricate body of work, Shadow Offering recounts pain, heartbreak, anger, and everything else that nestles in the heart of humanity before lifting the trodden towards the light of hope.

At times superfluous, at others explosively brilliant, it is more emotive than their previous releases and rather than shy away from this, the band jump in with both feet.