Following a wave of praise for the release of Broken Social Scene‘s newest album Hug of Thunder, the band will set off on a Fall tour of North America later next month.
Broken Social Scene‘s long-awaited return has proven worth the wait for critics and fans alike. Pitchfork gave the album its coveted Best New Music honor, writing, “On their first album in seven years, Broken Social Scene distill their sound to a vital essence. The band is focused and renewed, invigorated by the missionary spirit of their best work.” The New York Times wrote, “Broken Social Scene‘s music rejoices in what clever teamwork can construct.” NPR also agreed, saying “Hug of Thunder does not skimp.”
Produced by Joe Chiccarelli with Nyles Spencer and mixed by Shawn Everett, Hug Of Thunder is everything BSS fans love from the Canadian collective and then some, an album overflowing with glorious open chords, multi-voice harmonies, spacious psychedelia-tinted breakdowns, and more. It is a panoramic, expansive album that manages to be both epic and intimate; and like all things BSS, in troubled times, it offers a serotonin rush of positivity. Since their inception in the early Aughts, BSS has always pushed sonic boundaries while remaining reverent of a perfect chorus; almost twenty years down the line, Hug Of Thunder sharpens that balance. The record’s twelve songs refract the band’s varying emotions, methods, and techniques in ways that not only reference their other albums but surpass them. Hug Of Thunder is righteous but warm, angry but loving, melodic but uncompromising. And if you’ve ever fallen in love with Broken Social Scene – as many of us have – it is a perfect return that was truly worth the wait.
Pittsburgh Music Magazine 