You can’t really call it a comeback, because Broken Social Scene weren’t really gone. Since the release of their last album HUG OF THUNDER (2017), the individual members of the Canadian collective have been busy with their own projects, touring together and individually – and, as they say, have spent the last few years working on this new album.
The band was founded almost thirty years ago, and it is never entirely clear how many members it currently has. But the crew around impresario Kevin Drew is still up for it, only today they sound a little more established, a little more relaxed – you could say: more grown-up. Horns blow on almost every song, it crunches and bangs, perhaps to emphasize the human element even more in times of AI-generated music and plug-ins that perfect the sound. In addition to Kevin Drew, Andrew Whiteman, Hannah Georgas, Lisa Lobsinger and of course Leslie Feist are back, among others.
As long as the list of contributors is, the arrangements are also densely knit, with no instrument class neglected. Broken Social Scene remain true to their maximalism, even if their themes change: it’s about death and transience, change and a world in transition. Topics that arise in the middle of life. Encased in dazzling pop gems like the Feist-led “This Briefest Kiss,” even the agony of getting older sounds damn good.
