Geoff Downes and Chris Braide have announced that they’ll release their third album together under the Downes Braide Association banner. Titled Skyscraper Souls, it will arrive on November 17 and follows 2012’s Pictures Of You and 2015’s Suburban Ghosts from singer, songwriter and producer Braide and Yes keyboardist Downes. The new album is said to be more “traditional progressive” than the pair’s previous material but still carries “a strong pop aesthetic.” Guest contributors include Tim Bowness, Big Big Train’s David Longdon, Marc Almond, Andy Partridge from XTC and Kate Pierson from the B52s. Braide explains: “Geoff would send me folders full of stuff such as the magnificent piano pieces which turned into Glacier Girl and Prelude. As soon as I heard the chords I was writing lyrics like a mad man and before long the album started to materialise.” Downes adds: “The ideas themselves were in a very rough format, but with the melodies and basic harmonies. Chris started playing around with these, and often, they came back with some radical changes, but Chris was always very conscious to retain my original idea.”
