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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. Listen to the songs below.

Frontwoman Raphaelle Standell-Preston talks about the inspiration behind both songs in a press release: “‘Slayer Moon’ is inspired by a Sailor Moon phone case I bought in Tokyo, at 3am while on tour in Japan. Growing up I was obsessed with Sailor Moon, particularly with the ability to magically transform from a normal girl into a full-on mystical and powerful Sailor Scout, battle-ready to combat the evil forces of the world. Sailor Scouts have the longest legs ever drawn—so long that I drew a parallel between their immaculate legs, and our frenetic modern minds, lost in the ego abyss of the infinite scroll.”

She adds: “‘2020’ was written sometime in 2017, after a long period of being alone—in an abstract sense of the word—while reaching for fleeting physical closeness. I was with friends, but my heart was lonely and longing for companionship, my body confused with the unfamiliarity of new and shallow encounters. I had been meditating a lot during this time ‘tracing a line through the centre of my body’—a process of inward-looking that I veer towards when I take the time to sit. I titled the song ‘2020,’ in 2020. Revisiting the song’s lyrics through the eyes of our present reality struck a chord with me. I felt as close to the song as when I had first written it. I find that I am asking myself similar questions while in this pandemic, without my friends, my family, my familiar structures.”

Shadow Offering came out last year on Secret City and made it to #24 on our Top 100 Albums of 2020 list.

Read our Self-Portrait interview with the band.

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