Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record (Album)

Fans have waited a while for this one. Its been five long years for the Broken Social Scene faithful, with only bits and pieces from founding members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning to tide them over until the band's next outing. Fortunately, the indie collective are back, and in a big way: the liner notes reveal a record founded upon nine core members, backed by thirteen additional members (including Stars' Amy Millan and songstress Feist) as well as another nine - as the band puts it - 'guests'. Whichever way you slice it, on paper, Forgiveness Rock Record presents a line-up equal to its acclaimed, self-titled predecessor, boasting everything from "distressed drums" to a memorymoog. But with so much going on with so much talent, are there too many cooks left to lament an awful broth? Hardly. In fact, the superb execution of this mega-collaboration makes Forgiveness Rock Record remarkable.

As you might expect, with so many aboard the project, and with time to spend perfecting each track, their fourth album is at first listen, a rock-solid effort. Which is a surprise, given the very nature of Broken Social Scene is forever flexible and difficult to define, and much the same could be said of this album. Among the band's greatest strengths is their ability to shift us seamlessly from song to song, with a colorful pallet of moods, tones, concepts and ideas. This tact has the potential to create a jarring experience, but Broken Social Scene manage to escape the conundrum with ease. Its a free-flowing, indie-rock, prog-fest begging to be unpacked. World Sick creeps into earshot before degenerating into chaotic crashes of cymbals, set atop the band's brilliant soundscapes.

Even in its moments of restraint - heard in the percussive Highway Slipper Jam and the brooding Sweetest Kill - Forgiveness Rock Record offers layers of delicate instrumentation, its complexities immediate. And most pleasing of all is this willingness to experiment: irrespective of the success of what the band have achieved here, it is adventurous and refreshingly so - a hallmark of Broken Social Scene. Its a delightfully varied record that demands much time and attention to detail to deconstruct. But that, after all, is its charm.

Given that Forgiveness Rock Record runs at just over an hour, with fourteen tracks in all, perhaps a track or two might have been best left on the cutting room floor. But even then, its difficult to suggest just what to omit here. The recurring themes of Forgiveness Rock Record are as its title suggests: acceptance, making amends and moving on. Which, as one may cite, is just what Broken Social Scene have done in the five years they've had with Forgiveness Rock Record - only now, they are not just moving on. They are moving up. Recommended.

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