Hug of Thunder

More so than Forgiveness Rock Record, Hug of Thunder presents Broken Social Scene as a rock band making rock songs, a coherent montage rather than a patched-together highlight reel.

Hug is also a welcome retreat to those earlier records in terms of production, forsaking the leaner sound of 2010’s Forgiveness Rock Record for the shaggy excesses of both You Forgot It and Broken Social Scene.

The more spacious, reflective nature of some of the tracks means that each member of the band gets a chance to shine in the spotlight. But there’s also a great amount of pleasure to be had simply from searching out all of the tiny details that add even more dynamism and intrigue than usual to the album.

Sometimes all this bluster is needed to paper over middling songcraft and rudderless segues, but for the most part the writing is on point.

It's a glorious return; joyous, enraged and exciting. [Aug 2017, p.103]

Hug of Thunder is buoyant with inclusiveness and cautious hope.

It's an impressive return for a band that set the bar high years ago and continue to clear it with ease.

Broken Social Scene’s music rejoices in what clever teamwork can construct.

What has emerged is Broken Social Scene’s best album.

With the exception of the title cut, which is among the band's best-ever songs, Hug of Thunder isn't a life-changing album. That said, it's a case of a classic group sticking to their guns and highlighting what made us love them in the first place.

Hug of Thunder ploughs through emotional highs and lows with an empathetic grace, sometimes decorating its more dramatic moments with swells of brass, ditto its out-and-out rock’n’roll cuts; elsewhere they just let everything hang loose on a light robo-funk groove.

Some of the most exuberant and immediately engaging music they've ever recorded. [Aug 2017, p.22]

Ultimately Chiccarelli deserves credit for reigning in Broken Social Scene’s disparate elements. If he doesn’t always streamline the sound, he does manage to make it appear more contained and cohesive.

If it's been a minute since you've spent time with BSS, Hug Of Thunder could be a revelation. Otherwise, you'll just have to settle for it being a very good album. [No. 145, p.53]

Hug Of Thunder is a welcome return by Broken Social Scene. Dignified, grand and full of life, let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another seven years for their next record.

The standout is "Halfway Home," on which Bruce Springsteen and My Bloody Valentine meet up in the space between anxiety and uplift where this band does its best work.

It feels great to have them back with us, and their forthcoming live shows promise to be awesome, vital affairs. But it remains to be seen how many moments from Hug Of Thunder will make their way onto people’s Ultimate Broken Social Scene playlists in coming years. The thing with songs for now is that they’re not always songs for tomorrow.

Hug of Thunder feels exquisitely human with all the requisite limitations that come with a more balanced worldview. Broken Social Scene used to feel like everything, now they just feel like a very good band.

Hug of Thunder is at its best when Broken Social Scene is loose and willing to experiment with its formula.

Mostly, Hug Of Thunder feels like a sign of maturity to complement a more weathered and warm approach to songwriting that includes a lot of electronic pulses and skybound singalongs.

Some of it doesn’t work, a weakness that stems from bringing too many inspired minds together. But it’s also a welcome curse, and the experience they’ve gained has given them the excuse to just ride along with it without worry.

At times the record does dip, as some tracks don’t seize your attention quite as strongly as they might. But all-in-all, BSS have made an album that trumps any cynicism that they may have faced, and in the process Hug of Thunder is as hearteningly unguarded and positive a record as you are likely to hear this year.

Hug of Thunder thrives in these quieter moments, which depart from band's established sound in order to play to specific vocalists' strengths. The album's more discordant and propulsive tracks are more of a mixed bag.

Generally, they stick to their formula, sweeping hooks buoyed by gang vocals and commanding horns, making for an album that’s predictable yet reassuring.

Hug of Thunder is not hugely cogent--but equally benefit from the weight of numbers.

Unfortunately, aside from a couple of other stronger tracks (‘Gonna Get Better’ and ‘Towers and Masons’ – one of Brendan Canning’s contributions), the rest of the album isn’t something I have a desire to return to.

For all the broken dreams, what’s impressive about the album is the way that BSS balance tones, textures and themes.

As ever, though, their sheer weight in numbers often becomes overbearing. ... Yet, while their palpable urgency is frequently dissipated in the splurge, Hug Of Thunder's peaks are sky-scraping, indeed. [Aug 2017, p.88]