‘We are empaths, not sociopaths,’ says Broken Social Scene singer Kevin Drew ahead of comeback album Remember The Humans
BROKEN Social Scene is more than just a band, it is a community.
The Canadian collective is at the beating heart of Toronto’s freewheeling indie music scene.
If you attempt to count the combined total of active and inactive members, you arrive at a mind-boggling approximation somewhere between 20 and 30.
“What I love about this band is that it’s an open door,” affirms singer and guitarist Kevin Drew.
Since forming Broken Social Scene in 1999 with Brendan Canning, Drew has been its lynchpin . . . albeit one with an unerringly democratic approach.
“We invited everybody in and we didn’t have rules,” adds the 49-year-old frontman. “And we went out and did our f***ing best.”
Over the years, notable collaborators have included an array of Canada’s finest singers, including solo artist Feist, Amy Millan of Stars and SFTW’s other interviewee this week, Emily Haines of Metric.
Drew cemented his place at the centre of the scene by co-founding progressive label Arts & Crafts in 2003 and has known many of the artists since he was a teenager.
Now, Broken Social Scene are back with their first album in nine years, Remember The Humans, a typically multi-layered affair but one that never loses touch with a winning melody.
Through words and music, it serves as a telling reminder that in this dislocated tech-driven world, we are still mere mortals with very human feelings.
Drew is at home outside Toronto and I’m in London when we hook up for a video call this week.
Before we discuss Broken Social Scene’s welcome return to the fray, he balances his phone on a copy of Irma Rombauer’s hefty culinary classic, The Joy Of Cooking, to bring his face into full view.
He apologises for appearing a bit flushed and says with a big smile: “Sorry, I just took a sauna.”
I quickly discover that Drew is a disarming character with a refreshingly open take on life.
“My dad was from London originally,” he continues. “I said, ‘Hey Pops, I’m gonna speak to The Sun’, and he went, ‘Oh, my gosh, I remember The Sun — it used to have the pin-ups!’ ”
I inform Drew that one of my earliest reviews for SFTW was Broken Social Scene’s self-titled breakthrough third album, released in 2005. “So, we have a long relationship together, which I love,” he responds without a trace of irony.
Introductions out of the way, he’s ready for me to ask why it’s the right time for a new album, as well as a triple headliner tour with Metric and Stars, which is coming to the UK in September.
“We came to a realisation through playing shows after the pandemic that this IS our life,” he says. “This is something we have spent so much of our lives working on.
“We still find much joy in melody and we are part of the muscle memory business now.
“At the age we’re at and with what we’ve achieved already, we made a firm choice to continue.
“Between us all, we have had so much loss of family and friends, but we found that grief made us grateful for what we’ve got.”
Drew is thrilled to be heading out with his comrades from Metric (particularly Jimmy Shaw) and Stars, a trek that summons “the true spirit of what we have been from the beginning”.
Audiences can expect some band-hopping, meaning that Drew can’t really say how many people will be on stage with him.
“I haven’t a clue,” he says. “But I do know there will be a LOT.” The latest chapter in the Broken Social Scene story probably began in 2022 with a 20th anniversary tour of their second album, You Forgot It People, and its songs that still resonate today.
Drew and his fellow travellers realised they might provide some solace in a world where “identity is at war, fear is prominent at every turn” and where “hope is a very tired word”.
He says: “We thought, ‘Let’s do our tiny little protests, let’s continue to demonstrate community’. After all, it’s not hard for us to make music because there’s so many of us.
“Just by being around for 25 years, we have our own sound.”
One song from You Forgot It People — Anthems For A 17-Year-Old Girl, with Metric’s Haines on lead vocals — has acquired a new audience, as Drew explains.
“Thanks to the [2024] film I Saw The TV Glow, the trans community has brought that song into their lives and embraced it.
“It went viral on TikTok, then suddenly all our listens went up. It was the greatest award we’ve ever been given. We were so touched.”
For Drew, it was proof positive that “music helps to build your identity, to find your own people and to express yourself. Right now, that is something to hold on to”.
With its layers of horns, guitars and synthesisers as well as various distinctive voices, new album Remember The Humans is a triumph for freedom of expression.
There’s also a strong feeling of Broken Social Scene coming full circle, enhanced by the return of original producer David Newfeld.
Drew picks up the story: “I moved out of the city, just half an hour away from where Dave had moved 18 years ago.
“He started coming over for dinner and there was a lot of laughter. He’s so old school — still has a flip phone because he doesn’t think smart phones are smart.
“I reached out to him about working together again. I missed his sound and his passion, which were so unpredictable.
“Next thing I knew, I was on a two-and-a-half-year journey of starts and stops — and loss. I lost my mom and he lost his, so we bonded over that.”
It’s clear that the new album’s heartfelt opening song Not Around Anymore is, among other things, a product of their grieving process.
Drew adds: “Dave also latched on to the song And I Think of You. If you put it through headphones, you are hearing his grief over his mom. He records that thing, mixes it and he takes you on a journey.
“His mom was his world — they talked three times a day. Once he’d lost her, I realised it would help him to put love and loss into some of this music.”
We move on to other key contributors, firstly Feist, who resurrects What Happens Now, a song that reportedly didn’t make the cut for Broken Social Scene’s 2017 album Hug Of Thunder.
“Leslie Feist is a different entity because she’s so solo in her success,” says Drew. “There’s us, Metric and Stars, but she became the biggest of all on her own.”
He adds that Feist has “an open invitation” to be part of Broken Social Scene’s endeavours.
“I always tell her, ‘You’re welcome at this home any time you help build it. In fact, you’ve got your own wing!’ ”
Over acoustic strums, atmospheric electronica and occasional swells of horns, Feist’s ghostly delivery turns What Happens Now into a standout moment. “I’m honoured we were able to put it on this record,” says Drew. “It fits the theme.
“I love the cadence of Leslie’s vocals, the way it seems as if she is drowning before she becomes so clear. It’s so Feist.”
Another singer to make a significant contribution is Hannah Georgas, who became involved in Broken Social Scene’s world through being a support act.
Drew says she made Only The Good I Keep her own, and adds: “She neurologically removed my topline [lead vocal melody] — but we need people to have ownership.
“At first, I called Hannah and said, ‘This is great, but I’ve got something I can’t get in’. Two days later, I couldn’t even remember what I was saying and all I could hear was her version.”
Broken Social Scene regular Lisa Lobsinger brought the song Relief into the mix — providing another insight into the band’s democratic process.
Drew reports: “We got this email out of the blue from Lisa saying she kept singing a song in her head while meditating, and she thought it was by Social Scene.”
Lobsinger realised she was making up Relief by herself in that moment, so she submitted it.
“We sent it to the crew, and everyone loved it,” continues Drew. “So, I said, ‘Oh my God, Lisa, let’s do it!’ ”
Before we go our separate ways, Drew leaves me with telling observations about more general topics related to his home country.
Much as he appreciates iconic Canadian artists like Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, he singles out some of the lesser-known trailblazers who inspired him — “Thrush Hermit, Sloan, Hayden and Godspeed You! Black Emperor”.
And he has this to say about Donald Trump’s wacky idea of making Canada the 51st US state.
“I say to the younger members of the band, ‘Don’t listen to this man. In fact, don’t listen to men in general — if they have a microphone, they won’t do you any favours, including rock singers!’ ”
It’s a typical comment from someone for whom community spirit means everything.
In Broken Social Scene, decides Drew, “we are empaths, not sociopaths. No one has their identity wrapped up in this band”.