| Downes Braide Association |
| Suburban Ghosts |
Downes Braide Association — Suburban Ghosts (Nov 6th, 2015)
♣ Suburban Ghosts je album o izolaci a osamělosti na předměstí venkovského městečka. Geoff Downes is pleased to announce that his ongoing creative relationship with Chris Braide (writer and producer for Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Sia, David Guetta and Marc Almond and many others) has led to another studio album, Suburban Ghosts.
Born: 25 August 1952, Stockport, Cheshire, England
Location: Stockport, England ~ South Wales, UK
Album release: November 6th, 2015
Record Label: X2X Records
Duration: 52:37
Tracks:
01. Machinery of Fate 5:12
02. Suburban Ghosts — Parts 1 & 2 6:44
03. Suburban Ghosts — Part 3 5:59
04. Vanity 4:13
05. Number One 4:20
06. Interlude 1:13
07. North Sea 5:14
08. One of the Few 4:03
09. Time Goes Fast 4:05
10. Live Twice 3:52
11. Dreaming of England 5:55
12. Finale 1:42
℗ 2015 X2X Records
Personnel:
Ξ Geoff Downes
Ξ Chris Braide
♣ Downes Braide Association are gearing up to release their second, Suburban Ghosts.
♣ The duo of Yes and Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes and songwriter Chris Braide will launch the record on November 6 via Cherry Red Records. It’s the follow–up to DBA’s 2012 debut Pictures Of You.
♣ Braide says: “Suburban Ghosts is an album about isolation and loneliness in small town suburbia. A blank town under a sky full of stars, the same blank town you left behind. Now everyone has long gone, you’re haunted by images of those former frost covered school gates and the laughter of children in the park and of the lovers you had once loved. The alternative life you could have lived.
♣ “You see a photograph that reminds you how fragile we are. Somebody close to you whom you should have been there for. But it’s too late to go back now. It’s time to let them go, those suburban ghosts.”
♣ Songwriter Braide has worked with Beyonce, Lana del Rey, Paloma Faith, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, David Guetta, Sia, Afrojack and Marc Almond’s latest album The Velvet Trail on his way to winning Ivor Novello, ASCAP and Billboard awards.
♣ Downes says: “Chris never ceases to amaze with his application to the finest detail. And as on our previous collaboration, Pictures Of You, I provided him with the musical fabric and raw materials, and from that point he has manufactured and polished our latest gem with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker.” ♣ https://www.teamrock.com/
Review
By Bluesdoodles, November 3, 2015; Score: 9
♣ Ghosts, after their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Pictures of You’, creative powerhouse duo Chris Braide and Geoff Downes have drafted the second chapter of their joint venture. The album, entitled Suburban Ghosts, is modern prog rock, with a concept that flows through the lyrics and words. The title track opens with a bright and breezy melody and insistent almost mechanized drum beats. The lyrics hook you into the story — “I came across a photograph… A wake up call.. From the distant past…” you want to know what why and how this is impacting now on the opening track Machinery of Fate.
♣ As Chris Braide explained “Geoff and I both play all the keyboards 50/50 and we decided not to use a real drummer as we love the aesthetic of the electronic duo which is how we approached the first album. I.e., Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Capital Cities etc. We love the image of two guys with machines playing prog pop. A real drummer would have made it more of a traditional rock sound and it’s more electro pop than that. Bits of guitars by me more as texture and David Gregory from XTC plays guitar solo on Dreaming Of England”.
♣ Downes is a legend in the world of Prog having played his stylish keyboards in Yes, Asia and The Buggles, he co–wrote the hits Heat of the Moment and Video Killed The Radio Star. Then in London during 2010 he crossed paths with Braide and the story of collaboration began. Despite hectic and demanding schedules and stealing time creative juices thrived and Suburban Ghosts was born.
♣ Chris Braide explains: “’Suburban Ghosts’ is an album about isolation and loneliness in small town suburbia.” The story goes back to his and Geoff’s childhood in the small county of Cheshire in the North West of England: its beautiful varied countryside landscapes in contrast with grey industrial wastelands, the feeling of claustrophobia that led them both away looking for a new adventure and those sentiments of nostalgia as they come back to a town populated with the ghosts of their past. “A blank town under a sky full of stars, the same blank town you left behind,……It’s time to let them go, those suburban ghosts.”
♣ It is an album where you are submersed in a soundscape that laps around you with crafted beauty at times melancholy others with a festive feel but always quietly reflective. Twelve minutes of the album is dedicated to the title track and theme of the album and the keys and vocals harmonise adding power to the lyrical story that is being told that anyone who has experience of suburbia can instantly connect to. The three parts of the tracks Suburban Ghosts are a musical movement that is complete and tucked within the rest of the album that works around and develops the themes being explored.
♣ With twelve tracks that ebb and flow and develop the concept of a town being trapped and isolated Number One is how to escape the prisoner need to be you own person and the drums have a hypnotic feel and work around the vocals and keys. About escaping with your dreams before the routines of work and respectability captures you this is a powerful message about self–belief and purpose. Half-way through there is a short Interlude of keys and vocals “life is not lost”… is sung and then into the next section of this Prog Rock opus. The music picks up tempo and the strings add a mystical feel as North Sea now provides the backdrop to a new chapter and Geoff Downes vocals again sear through the music unfolding another dimension to life. With a faster tempo Times Goes Fast you feel life is moving on yet nothing changes it is about stop dreaming and live your life as you saw it time is relentless and that is picked up in the lyrical tone poem that is the format of this track. The last two tracks Dreaming of England and Finale bring the exploration of life, suburbia and living in England to a close. The whole album has structure, movements driven by a melody that lightens and darkens the lyrics that pull you deep into the album that needs to be explored so the nuances of the words are not lost in this opus a modern tonal poem that is progressive music. ♣ http://bluesdoodles.com/
Also:
David Randall, Score: ****
♣ http://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2015/10/album-review-downes-braide-association-suburban-ghosts/
Website: http://geoffdownes.com/
Personal life:
♣ Downes has been married and divorced twice. He had two daughters, Christina and Alexandra, from his first wife, Norwegian former model Wenche Steen (Miss Norway in 1973). Alexandra died in February 2013.
♣ Downes has an older sister, Helen, and two older brothers, John Gordon and Andrew. He currently lives in South Wales with his wife Martine Downes (née Dorey).
_____________________________________________________________
| Downes Braide Association |
| Suburban Ghosts |
Born: 25 August 1952, Stockport, Cheshire, England
Location: Stockport, England ~ South Wales, UK
Album release: November 6th, 2015
Record Label: X2X Records
Duration: 52:37
Tracks:
01. Machinery of Fate 5:12
02. Suburban Ghosts — Parts 1 & 2 6:44
03. Suburban Ghosts — Part 3 5:59
04. Vanity 4:13
05. Number One 4:20
06. Interlude 1:13
07. North Sea 5:14
08. One of the Few 4:03
09. Time Goes Fast 4:05
10. Live Twice 3:52
11. Dreaming of England 5:55
12. Finale 1:42
℗ 2015 X2X Records
Personnel:
Ξ Geoff Downes
Ξ Chris Braide
♣ Downes Braide Association are gearing up to release their second, Suburban Ghosts.
♣ The duo of Yes and Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes and songwriter Chris Braide will launch the record on November 6 via Cherry Red Records. It’s the follow–up to DBA’s 2012 debut Pictures Of You.
♣ Braide says: “Suburban Ghosts is an album about isolation and loneliness in small town suburbia. A blank town under a sky full of stars, the same blank town you left behind. Now everyone has long gone, you’re haunted by images of those former frost covered school gates and the laughter of children in the park and of the lovers you had once loved. The alternative life you could have lived.
♣ “You see a photograph that reminds you how fragile we are. Somebody close to you whom you should have been there for. But it’s too late to go back now. It’s time to let them go, those suburban ghosts.”
♣ Songwriter Braide has worked with Beyonce, Lana del Rey, Paloma Faith, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, David Guetta, Sia, Afrojack and Marc Almond’s latest album The Velvet Trail on his way to winning Ivor Novello, ASCAP and Billboard awards.
♣ Downes says: “Chris never ceases to amaze with his application to the finest detail. And as on our previous collaboration, Pictures Of You, I provided him with the musical fabric and raw materials, and from that point he has manufactured and polished our latest gem with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker.” ♣ https://www.teamrock.com/
By Bluesdoodles, November 3, 2015; Score: 9
♣ Ghosts, after their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Pictures of You’, creative powerhouse duo Chris Braide and Geoff Downes have drafted the second chapter of their joint venture. The album, entitled Suburban Ghosts, is modern prog rock, with a concept that flows through the lyrics and words. The title track opens with a bright and breezy melody and insistent almost mechanized drum beats. The lyrics hook you into the story — “I came across a photograph… A wake up call.. From the distant past…” you want to know what why and how this is impacting now on the opening track Machinery of Fate.
♣ As Chris Braide explained “Geoff and I both play all the keyboards 50/50 and we decided not to use a real drummer as we love the aesthetic of the electronic duo which is how we approached the first album. I.e., Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Capital Cities etc. We love the image of two guys with machines playing prog pop. A real drummer would have made it more of a traditional rock sound and it’s more electro pop than that. Bits of guitars by me more as texture and David Gregory from XTC plays guitar solo on Dreaming Of England”.
♣ Downes is a legend in the world of Prog having played his stylish keyboards in Yes, Asia and The Buggles, he co–wrote the hits Heat of the Moment and Video Killed The Radio Star. Then in London during 2010 he crossed paths with Braide and the story of collaboration began. Despite hectic and demanding schedules and stealing time creative juices thrived and Suburban Ghosts was born.
♣ Chris Braide explains: “’Suburban Ghosts’ is an album about isolation and loneliness in small town suburbia.” The story goes back to his and Geoff’s childhood in the small county of Cheshire in the North West of England: its beautiful varied countryside landscapes in contrast with grey industrial wastelands, the feeling of claustrophobia that led them both away looking for a new adventure and those sentiments of nostalgia as they come back to a town populated with the ghosts of their past. “A blank town under a sky full of stars, the same blank town you left behind,……It’s time to let them go, those suburban ghosts.”
♣ It is an album where you are submersed in a soundscape that laps around you with crafted beauty at times melancholy others with a festive feel but always quietly reflective. Twelve minutes of the album is dedicated to the title track and theme of the album and the keys and vocals harmonise adding power to the lyrical story that is being told that anyone who has experience of suburbia can instantly connect to. The three parts of the tracks Suburban Ghosts are a musical movement that is complete and tucked within the rest of the album that works around and develops the themes being explored.
♣ With twelve tracks that ebb and flow and develop the concept of a town being trapped and isolated Number One is how to escape the prisoner need to be you own person and the drums have a hypnotic feel and work around the vocals and keys. About escaping with your dreams before the routines of work and respectability captures you this is a powerful message about self–belief and purpose. Half-way through there is a short Interlude of keys and vocals “life is not lost”… is sung and then into the next section of this Prog Rock opus. The music picks up tempo and the strings add a mystical feel as North Sea now provides the backdrop to a new chapter and Geoff Downes vocals again sear through the music unfolding another dimension to life. With a faster tempo Times Goes Fast you feel life is moving on yet nothing changes it is about stop dreaming and live your life as you saw it time is relentless and that is picked up in the lyrical tone poem that is the format of this track. The last two tracks Dreaming of England and Finale bring the exploration of life, suburbia and living in England to a close. The whole album has structure, movements driven by a melody that lightens and darkens the lyrics that pull you deep into the album that needs to be explored so the nuances of the words are not lost in this opus a modern tonal poem that is progressive music. ♣ http://bluesdoodles.com/
Also:
David Randall, Score: ****
♣ http://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2015/10/album-review-downes-braide-association-suburban-ghosts/
Website: http://geoffdownes.com/
Personal life:
♣ Downes has been married and divorced twice. He had two daughters, Christina and Alexandra, from his first wife, Norwegian former model Wenche Steen (Miss Norway in 1973). Alexandra died in February 2013.
♣ Downes has an older sister, Helen, and two older brothers, John Gordon and Andrew. He currently lives in South Wales with his wife Martine Downes (née Dorey).