„We’re back!“ Kevin Drew, shouts at me as his face lights up my computer screen, talking about his band Broken Social Scene. Over the past ten years, our lives have intersected a number of times. We’ve met via Skype (back when that was still a thing), at festivals, backstage, in restaurants, and via Zoom, which has become the go-to means of communication since the pandemic. So this time, it’s Zoom again.
Every time we’ve talked professionally — which has become increasingly difficult to navigate in between catching up personally — we’ve talked about his solo work. For the first time, finally, we get to chat about new music from Broken Social Scene. Now that’s special. Broken Social Scene have been around since the early 2000s in various formations. Members have left to pursue solo careers, but everyone — including artists like Leslie Feist, Lisa Lobsinger, La Force and Metric frontwoman Emily Haines — keeps returning.
There is a unique friendship that holds together some of the most prestigious artists the Canadian music scene has to offer. It’s a genuine concept, based on the need for real human connection — something Kevin Drew is extremely vocal and passionate about, especially as the world increasingly revolves around divisiveness, provocation, and rage bait. If there is anything Drew and Broken Social Scene are about, you could call it love bait. It surely wasn’t a random decision to name the new Broken Social Scene album „Remember the Humans“. Humanity is the soil this band thrives on. I once gave Drew a shirt with a print that said „Hug Dealer.“ It’s been almost ten years, and he tells me he still wears that shirt regularly.
„There was a lot of loss and a lot of celebration towards us being together.“
Speaking of ten years – it’s also been almost that long since the last Broken Social Scene album „Hug of Thunder“. „We didn’t mean for that to happen,“ he tells me. „Obviously it’s been a world wide pandemic. I think also, with this band we reached where we wanted to be. To continue we had to come to it all on our own terms. There’s a reluctancy when we return together, because of the amount of compromise that comes with the gig. But we did start recording in 2023. We all came to my house and thought let’s see what happens. And songs like ‚Mission Accomplished‘ and ‚Paying for your Love‘ came from those sessions.“
But then life got in the way. Kevin Drew’s mother died. This followed a nine-month period during which the band didn’t get together. The spark that reignited the flame came in the form of an old friend. David Newfeld had produced the band’s legendary breakthrough album You Forgot It in People as well as their self-titled 2005 album. Drew’s and Newfeld’s paths crossed again after more than 20 years, and the band started going to Newfeld’s studio. „Just a little bit,“ Drew smirks.
It still wasn’t a straightforward path from there. Shortly after Drew’s mother died, David Newfeld’s mother passed away as well. „Life just kept happening,“ Drew says. „There was a lot of loss and a lot of celebration towards us being together. Because everybody lives sort of sporadically apart, it took a while to get everyone in the same room. But also David Newfeld loves to work individually with people so he can just focus in on them. We saw ourselves sort of finished in February 2025 and then worked on mixes for almost a year.“
I am fascinated by how this huge group of people always manages to come back together at all. Adult lives are so hard to navigate and synchronize. The strong sense of friendship that unites the core members of Broken Social Scene and the various artists who have dropped in and out of working with them feels pretty unique to me within the industry. It feels like a very warm, welcoming place, I say. „Maybe that’s why you like us,“ Drew smiles.
„Friendship is not permanent. But it’s the greatest protest we have in the times of right now.“
It is true, though. Drew and I are at a similar age, and we’ve both had the experiences that come with it. I strongly believe that honest human connection is the only way we can survive in the long run. And it is very rare to see those kinds of experiences and values coming together in music. Drew agrees.
„We look back at the history we have together, and it’s unbeatable. It’s friend proof. We’ve all forgiven each other for whatever things we’ve done. We’ve praised each other for all the things we’ve done. We’ve all loved each other. We’ve all tried to be in relationships with each other. And yet here we are. Friendship is not permanent. But it’s the greatest protest we have in the times of right now.“
It is also fascinating, how so many grown up artistic individuals can come together and form such a strong unity. Drew once said that the secret to them working together is never having one single person be in charge. He tells me how Leslie Feist brought in her song „What Happens Now“, which basically sounded finished to him. „But as we started building on top of it, she kind of gave everyone free will to dump what they wanted to.“
Doesn’t it require a huge amount of bravery and the just as huge absence of ego to work like this? I ask. „Letting go of control is a very difficult thing, “ he says. „We’re a huge group of people. It’s a very difficult thing. But the results, not only in your life, but in the art itself, are absolutely stunning. And then also letting things in. You just allow people to be honest in how they communicate with melody. That’s what the success of this band has always been.“
„It’s nice to have your own sound in a world that has so much noise to it.“
Maybe this is also the reason why listening to a new Broken Social Scene album always sounds like coming home and going on a new adventure at the same time. The production on „Remember the Humans“ is very rich, so many layers of guitars, drums, keys and horns. But the quality of the songs sticks out in a very innocent, pure form. Again, Drew agrees: „If we sit down to write, we have a sound. It’s just who we are. It’s nice to have your own sound in a world that has so much noise to it. I can say that because I listen to it. I put my guitar down or I step aside and I sit and watch them all play. And I think: yeah, there’s a unison here that is… honest.“
The sense of familiarity, paired with the excitement of exploring new sonic landscapes, was surely amplified by the reunion with David Newfeld, Drew muses. „There’s been enough time in between records. We knew we could take chances. But we knew, being with David Newfeld, we we were always going to have this home that we belong to. And whoever knew about us or has spent some time with us or been in our lives was neurologically going top come back with that memory muscle to who we are.“
Life as an indie artist has never been more difficult, in a time where streaming almost makes it impossible to live off your music and the live industry still hasn’t returned to how it was before the pandemic — and maybe never will. To bring their music back on the road, Broken Social Scene have teamed up with two bands from their close circle, Metric and Stars, to go on a joint tour this fall. It is a concept that stresses the importance of friendship, but also a way for all of them to make touring more affordable.
„I’m praising Metric for making this happen!“ Drew shouts. „I think it needed to happen, because people needed to see that this is something that exists. I wasn’t sure if we were going to get it to Europe, because everything is so expensive. It’s not a drastic bill. But it’s still a lot of people losing money in this business. It’s very, very difficult and stressful on the industry. But also, promoters need to invest in tours like this to balance out the mainstream.“
„I tell people, look, don’t kill yourself, when you’re turning 40.“
We talk a lot about the state of the world. Sadly and luckily at the same time, someone has given us a time limit this time. But the themes we always end up coming back to are friendship and humanity. The central question your life evolves around as you get older is how to navigate all these difficult experiences. First of all, loss. Of friendships, but also, quite literally, of people. The increasingly worrying state of the world. The aching bones. How do you survive all this without letting it consume you, but also without losing your compassion?
„I speak of the worry of hardening and getting colder. Sometimes I worry that that’s happened. I don’t care as much about things as I used to. I had a very good judge and a very good take on people, but it just made it quicker for me, where I could see what was going on. I tell people, look, don’t kill yourself, when you’re turning 40. You might feel like you want it, but just keep going. 40 onwards to me was fucking just the best. Hard things happened to me, but I knew what to do. Loss is loss. I cried, I grieved, but every time it was making me more alive and stronger.“
Drew can get quite agitated when he talks about these kind of things. It’s because he knows his mission, he says. „And I know my morality in my mission. It’s the human being. It’s to get to the people. You built this jukebox of hypocrisy to put my music on and get paid nothing – I will do it! It’s a decision I will make so that I can find the individual who needs it. It’s a narcissistic ripple. But if I don’t think that way, what am I doing?“