Downes Braide Association Release Sixth Album TRAUMA

Downes Braide Association (DBA), the studio collaboration between keyboard maestro Geoff Downes and multi award-winning songwriter and vocalist Chris Braide, has released its sixth studio album, Trauma, via Cherry Red Records.

Chris Braide explains: 'These songs emerged from the cracks. 'Trauma' is about the ghosts we inherit, the wounds we hide, and the light that still finds its way through.

For Geoff Downes, the album provided an opportunity to explore a wide range of musical influences while delving into the emotional contrasts at the heart of the record.

The focus track for the release is 'I wish I'd known'

'I wish I'd known, started with a sketch Geoff sent me. This great keyboard riff in a minor key. Very Geoff, actually. Lyrically, I started thinking about the idea of looking back at your younger self and being able to say, you really don't need to worry quite so much. It all worked out anyway.

There's that old idea. Can you do anything about it? If the answer is yes, then do something about it. And if the answer is no, why worry? Of course, that's much easier to understand when you're older than when you're actually living through those years.

Musically, Geoff's original idea was in a minor key, so when I got to the chorus, I modulated it into major. That's something Geoff and I have done quite a lot over the years with DBA. We'll take the essence of the original musical sketch and rather than introduce lots of completely new ideas, find another way of looking at the same one. Sometimes we'll move it up a fifth, sometimes change the key, or turn major into minor or vice versa. You retain the DNA of the original idea, but suddenly it means something different emotionally. And that seemed particularly appropriate for I Wish I'd Known. Because that's really what the lyric is doing too. You're looking at the same life from a different perspective. The events haven't changed, you have.

Dave Bainbridge also plays an absolute killer guitar solo on this track. He just nails it.

I suppose the title says everything I wanted to say. I wish I'd known what I know now. Most of the things I worried about never happened. And somehow, despite all that worrying, life happened anyway.'

Album Details

Downes Braide Association — Trauma

Released: 25 September 2026

Label: Cherry Red Records

Album: Trauma

Geoff Downes: Keyboards

Chris Braide: Vocals / songwriting