Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

 It may have been a long time coming, but Broken Social Scene’s fourth official studio album has, predictably enough, been worth the wait. Despite welcoming John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake) into their ranks as co-producer, Forgiveness Rock Record doesn’t really break any new musical ground for the collective; nor is it likely to convert any naysayers who’ve found the group’s output to date a bit too self-conscious and wayward. What it does do, however, is tick off all the boxes that fans will want ticked. An epic, crescendo-filled opener? Check. Some dreamy pop with female vocals? Check. A barnstorming instrumental? Check. Lyrics that are sometimes oblique, and yet still manage to tug at the heartstrings? Check. The band’s biggest problem at this point seems to be that, where once they sounded like no one else, their trademark sound is now so firmly in place that it’ll be hard for them to alter it without ruffling the feathers of their diehard fanbase.

Ruminations aside, though, aforementioned opener ‘World Sick’ really is a superb way to kick things off: the song builds and builds over seven minutes, and should sound amazing in a sweaty, mud-filled tent when oxegen and T in the Park rear their corporate heads in July. It’s far from the only reminder here that front man Kevin Drew knows a thing or two about layering a track with just the right amount of noise without it sounding self-indulgent. So, while parts of Forgiveness Rock Record may verge on BSS-by-numbers, when the numbers go to eleven with such style it would be churlish to complain.

The obligatory guest appearances provide some of the other highlights here: ‘Sentimental X’s’, featuring Emily Haines, is surely one of the tenderest tracks the band has ever released; dealing with a broken relationship and the subsequent fallout, it brings to the fore the forgiveness in the album’s title. Part-time Scenester Feist also contributes backing vocals on a couple of tracks, and Andrew Whiteman from Apostle of Hustle appears on the brilliant, horn-driven ‘Art House Director’.

At 59 minutes, Forgiveness Rock Record certainly isn’t a concise listen, but there’s little here that could really be described as filler. It’s pompous without being pretentious, overblown without being overcooked and ambitious without perhaps breaking any new ground. In other words, it’s a Broken Social Scene album and it does exactly what it says on the tin.