Geoff Downes and Chris Braide, collectively known as DOWNES-BRAIDE ASSOCIATION love to play with their listener’s mind, so at least three of the duo’s albums – "Skyscraper Souls" from 2017, 2021’s "Halcyon Hymns" and "Celestial Songs" from 2023 – had at least one thing in common, apart from music: phonetical, if not strictly visual, alliteration of the titles. Or two things, if you add Roger Dean’s artwork, which is also a feature on the friends’ forthcoming offering, set to be issued in CD and vinyl form on September 25th under the title of “Trauma” that breaks this first-letter trend.
Just like two out of its three immediate predecessors, DBA’s sixth studio effort has Marc Almond as one of Geoff and Chris’s guests – he’s duetting with Braide on “Juliet” – so there’s continuity at play, too. As far as arresting tunes go, the Brits deliver those in spades, as usual.
Trauma
1. Hello Hello
2. Trauma
3. King Of Karma
4. Wonderland
5. Love And Loss
6. I Wish I’d Known
7. Do You Remember?
8. Juliet
9. Lake Of Memories
10. Wherever You Are Now
