Downes Braide Association (DBA) announce the release of the second single and video, “Keep On Moving”, from their new album Celestial Songs, out September 8. Following their previous studio albums, Celestial Songs will be the fifth DBA studio collaboration for Geoff Downes (keyboards) and multi award-winning songwriter Chris Braide (vocals). The album will be released in three formats: CD, 2LP and Box Set.
“Keep On Moving” is an uplifting track that picks up on the themes of DBA’s previous album, Halcyon Hymns, as songwriter and vocalist Chris Braide explains: “It’s a nostalgic song in that it's looking back at a kind of formative period in time, a love letter to the past, really. There's a reference to Prefab Sprout’s ‘Cars and Girls’ which is one of my favourite songs.”
The mood for “Keep On Moving” is set by Francis Dunnery’s sensitive guitar work before multi-instrumentalist Dave Bainbridge (guitarist for the remainder of the album) shows his prowess on keyboards.
“The track has a great guitar riff,” says Chris, “and an arpeggio guitar picking out the riff, played by Francis. It gives it that kind of shimmery, summery feeling and the keyboard solo is wonderful. Dave Bainbridge played that solo and, I think, it's one of the finest moments on the album.”
While “Keep On Moving” forms a bridge of continuity to DBA’s previous output, Celestial Songs includes a lot of variety and, generally, leans more towards classic rock.
“We were aiming to get quite a bit more dynamics into this album,” says keyboardist Geoff Downes, “because there were some very quiet pastoral moments. I think it makes it a more interesting listen for people to get their heads around and enjoy. I hope people will appreciate it and get behind it, not just the songwriting and vocals but the overall instrumentation and musicianship is very high on this album. I know that Chris really likes the depth of chord sequences that I put together. This particular collection just really grabbed him and he got it up and running very, very quickly, so I was really pleased about that.”
You can pre-order all formats of Celestial Songs via the links below:
- CD
- 2LP
- Box Set
Celestial Songs tracklisting:
"Look What You Do"
"Clear Light"
"Keep On Moving"
"Darker Side Of Fame"
"Hey Kid"
"Will To Power"
"Heart Shaped Hole"
"Dear Petra"
"On The Run"
"Goodbye To You (Sister Shame)"
"Beyond The Stars"
"Clear Light" lyric video:
- All tracks written by Chris Braide and Geoff Downes except “Keep On Moving” (Chris Braide/Francis Dunnery/ Geoff Downes) and “Goodbye To You (Sister Shame)” (Chris Braide/Andy Partridge/Geoff Downes)
- Produced by Chris Braide and Geoff Downes
About Downes Braide Association:
Downes Braide Association was formed as a studio-based project by Geoff Downes and Chris Braide and has previously produced four studio albums: Pictures Of You (2012), Suburban Ghosts (2015), Skyscraper Souls (2017) and Halcyon Hymns (2021) and a live album Live In England (2019). The project draws on Downes’ and Braide’s rich musical heritage to create a delightfully accessible brand of progressive rock.
Keyboard wizard Geoff Downes was thrust into the limelight with the worldwide success of Video Killed The Radio Star in 1979. The single topped the charts in 16 countries for The Buggles duo of Geoff and Trevor Horn (vocals, bass guitar). They briefly joined prog legends YES before Downes became a founder member of the supergroup Asia with YES guitarist Steve Howe, ELP drummer Carl Palmer and the late John Wetton (vocals, bass guitar).
The Wetton-Downes composition “Heat Of The Moment” became a world-wide hit in 1982 heralding many years of success for Asia with their FM radio-friendly brand of rock. Downes later rejoined YES in 2011 and remains with the band alongside Steve Howe.
British singer-songwriter-pianist Chris Braide has recently returned to UK shores after many years based in California. He enjoys enormous success writing and producing music for film scores, advertising campaigns and working closely with artists including Sia, Lana Del Rey, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Paloma Faith, Britney Spears and Marc Almond.
An Ivor Novello award-winner and Grammy-nominated, Braide has recently won a BMI Pop Award in Los Angeles for co-writing Sia’s Unstoppable, her eighth US Top 40 hit after making a surprise, and long, rise to the top having been released in 2016, becoming the biggest selling single in the USA.
(Photo - DBA)
