Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene operates simultaneously as an indie rock band and a creative collective, a Toronto-rooted outfit whose adaptable membership has drawn from some of the strongest and most prominent talents in the city’s alternative music circles. The ensemble first appeared in 2001 on Feel Good Lost; its roster has fluctuated between two and fifteen players while generating a wide-ranging catalog that encompasses film scores, ambient minimalism, and lushly arranged Baroque pop, with standout releases including the Juno Award-winning You Forgot It in People (2003), Broken Social Scene (2005), and the chart-topping Hug of Thunder (2017). Acts and artists linked to the group encompass Feist, Metric, Do Make Say Think, Amy Millan, Stars, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, Jason Collett, K.C. Accidental, and Apostle of Hustle.

Kevin Drew of K.C. Accidental and Brendan Canning of By Divine Right formed Broken Social Scene in 1999 to develop new material together. Two years of refining their songs led Drew and Canning to issue the first Broken Social Scene album, Feel Good Lost, in 2001. Though mainly an instrumental effort performed by the pair, the record featured contributions from Evan Cranley of Stars, Bill Priddle from K.C. Accidental, Anthony Seck of Shalabi Effect, Charles Spearin of Do Make Say Think, and vocalist Leslie Feist. Justin Peroff, who supplied drums on those sessions, soon became a core member, while live performances regularly featured Andrew Whiteman (Stars), Emily Haines (Metric), James Shaw (Metric), John Crossingham (Raising the Fawn), Amy Millan (Stars), and Jason Collett.

The core quartet of Drew, Canning, Peroff, and Spearin recorded the second album, 2002’s You Forgot It in People, with the lineup expanded to eleven musicians that also included Cranley, Crossingham, Feist, Haines, Priddle, Shaw, and Whiteman. You Forgot It in People marked the breakthrough, drawing widespread critical praise and securing a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. In 2003 the band issued the stopgap compilation Bee Hives, collecting B-sides and remixed tracks. Their self-titled third album arrived in 2005, by which point the ensemble had grown further to incorporate Ohad Benchetrit (Do Make Say Think), Torquil Campbell (Stars), and Martin Davis Kinack alongside the previous participants. Like its predecessor, Broken Social Scene earned another Juno for Best Alternative Album, prompting an international tour; the group also stepped in as last-minute headliners at Toronto’s 2006 Virgin Festival after Massive Attack were unable to cross the Atlantic due to visa issues.

Once the touring cycle for Broken Social Scene concluded, the collective entered a hiatus while members focused on solo work. Kevin Drew issued the 2007 solo album Spirit If … under the “Broken Social Scene Presents” banner, and Brendan Canning followed with 2008’s Something for All of Us; both projects drew heavily on contributions from fellow band members. Drew additionally released four “Broken Social Scene Presents” EPs that same year. Author Stuart Berman released the band-authorized book This Book Is Broken in 2009. The following year Broken Social Scene appeared on screen in This Movie Is Broken, Bruce McDonald’s romantic comedy set at a BSS concert in Toronto.

An ambitious return materialized in 2010 with Forgiveness Rock Record, tracked across Toronto, New York, and Chicago and featuring twenty-eight musicians, among them members of Pavement and Death from Above 1979. Supporters who pre-ordered the album received the ten-song digital EP Lo-Fi for the Dividing Nights, and seven separate remixes of “All to All” were also issued. Another critical favorite, the album earned a Polaris Music Prize nomination and reached number one on the Canadian sales charts, while peaking at number 34 in the United States—an uncommon achievement for an independent release.

Late 2010 brought another hiatus, though the group reconvened for sporadic concerts and festival dates. In 2013 they organized a literary contest inviting writers to produce short stories inspired by tracks from You Forgot It in People; the thirteen finalists’ works appeared in the anthology The Broken Social Scene Story Project: Short Works Inspired by You Forgot It in People. The complete fifteen-member lineup reassembled to record the fifth album, Hug of Thunder, released in July 2017. In January 2019 the band released the single “All I Want” in advance of the Let’s Try the After – Vol. 1 EP, which followed the next month.