CMJ BAND CRUSH: BRAIDS

It's not often that we can listen to a 7-minute song in its entirety. It's even rarer that we'll immediately press "repeat" after the epic track ends to hear it once more.

But the Canadian foursome BRAIDS manages to keep our attention span occupied with "Lemonade," their ethereal first single. The song's an extended medley of instrumental magic that starts out soft and gradually gets bigger and more booming, thanks to pulsating guitars and tickling piano. But the entire package is held together by lead singer Raphaell Standell-Preston's captivating, chanting voice.

Their debut album, Native Speaker, won't be released until January, but BRAIDS is already being hyped as the Next Big Thing. And who are we to disagree?

Listen to "Lemonade" here, and you'll see what we mean.