Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

Some things are worth waiting for; five years on from their eponymous third album, Broken Social Scene remain one of them. The Canadian collective haven’t really been away as such; there have been side-projects, solo albums and tours aplenty. But the cosmic dream-pop alignment that occurs only when all 73 (or however many) are in the same studio together has been sorely missed.

Forgiveness Rock Record is all anybody could have hoped for. Courtesy of John McEntire’s bombastic production, it’s probably their most accessible album yet, but even your inner-hipster won’t be able to turn its nose up at the lucid musical dream of World Sick, or the sparse, haunted falsetto melody of Sweetest Kill. Musically, Forgiveness Rock Record is a disparate collection – a power-pop anthem here, some futuristic montage music there – but the common thread that holds it altogether are fourteen beautiful, joyous songs rendered in phosphene-inducing technicolour. [Barry Nicolson]