Spectrum Culture's Best Albums of 2015

From Spectrum Culture:

Braids – Deep in the Iris (Arbutus) 
On Deep in the Iris, Braids frontwoman Raphaelle Standell-Preston confronts head-on the manner in which women, herself included, accept mistreatment at the hands of men – be it men who claim to love them or strangers who would lust after them – in blunt turns of phrases and recollections. In rejecting this acquiescence, she seeks to empower herself and others. The fusion of Standell-Preston’s malleable voice–soft at times and demonstrative at others–and lushness of the keys and percussion on this record illuminate her intolerance of her old ways and the old ways of others, making the sentiments expressed that much more haunting and inviting for repeated listens. – Ray Legendre