Braille Face Releases First New Music In 12 Months Ahead Of BIGSOUND Appearance

It's been a hot minute since we last heard from lauded Melburnian muso Jordan White, aka Braille Face, but the wait for new music is over.

After a stellar 2016, which saw the release of his truly stunning debut LP Kōya — the album has gone on to clock more than a million streams on Spotify — and a sharp incline in his public profile, Braille Face has returned with his first fresh tune in 12 months, the expressive and expansive Run For Your Life.

White's malleable, mellifluous vocals are a highlight of the piece, which once again demonstrates his bountiful creative nous and musical intelligence as a songwriter (not that that was in any doubt).

Driven by pulsing, hold-the-fort bass and wavering E-piano, the tune's undulating, phased percussion eventually gives way to live drums, feeling like the breaking of a leash — such is the palpable restraint of the song's early passages — when they poke through the song's carefully constructed and delicate soundscape about two-thirds of the way in.

The mixture of live and electronic instrumentation, not to mention Braille Face's wide-ranging, enticing vocals, arguably play as something of a blend between the stylish, layered lap-pop of +/- and early-2000s Thom Yorke — although, it must be said, it never feels even close to derivative, the song more than capably occupying a space distinct from such comparative sounds.

If this is a sign of what's to come — and we know that Braille Face has been working on new stuff for a while now — then we're pretty dang excited to see what else the talented tunesmith has been cooking up during the past year.

At any rate, we'll hopefully hear at least a few more fresh cuts when he makes his return to BIGSOUND for a second year running next month. There, he'll be playing as part of Smallsound, a showcase for his label, Spirit Level, at the Judith Wright Centre on Tuesday 5 September, which also features the likes of Donald Hugh, Hayden Calnin, Mara, label co-founder Tim Shiel and a special guest.

Braille Face is also on Thursday's timetable at the Woolly Mammoth's Alehouse Stage, playing from 8.50pm.

If you're not headed to BIGSOUND, make sure you're following Braille Face on Facebook to stay on top of his other upcoming appearances and releases.