Downes Braide Association release uplfiting video for Warm Summer Sun

Melodic prog duo Downes Braide Association, the partnership between Yes keyboard player Geoff Downes and singer and producer Chris Braide, have released an uplifting lyric video for the song Warm Summer Sun. It's taken from the pair's new album Halcyon Hymns, which was released through Cherry Red records last month.

The song is a duet between Producers singer Braide and Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond. The album also feature a guest appearance from Big Big Train singer David Longdon and new artwork from Roger Dean.

“The beautiful piano part that Geoff came up is full of yearning and that inspired me to write a melody and lyric which were both melancholy and dream like," says Braide. "When I was writing the words, I pictured a similar room and burning log fire as is depicted in the ABBA song Like An Angel Passing Though My Room. A song I’ve always loved. Marc Almond heard the rough of Warm Summer Sun and loved it so much he called me and suggested we sing it together as a duet. His voice was the icing on the cake and added another layer of pathos.”

“When I sent the original idea of Warm Summer Sun to Chris, I was wondering if it was enough for him to get a handle on turning it into an actual song. Really, it was just what I considered to be a pretty nice chord sequence, above which I suggested the simplest, albeit poignant melodies in a very slow meter. What I was not expecting was how, rather than adding other sections, Chris managed to turn it around using one of his cunning devices. This was achieved by alternately changing the keys between a verse and a chorus with slight variations, thus keeping the flow of the song but also retaining the interest. The result is a sombre, sedate feel – largo in musical terms, but at the same time joyously uplifting. Having Marc contributing and syncing in with Chris’s harmonies so beautifully is really the icing on the cake. To me, it exemplifies how as songwriters we can sometimes show, that less is more."

Halcyon Hymns will be released as a CD/DVD package now and as a white vinyl double album on March 26.

Get Halcyon Hymns CD.

Pre-order white vinyl.

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.