Broken Social Scene have announced the May 8 release of their new album Remember The Humans (Arts & Crafts). Marking their first new studio album in nearly a decade, the LP reunites the Toronto collective with producer David Newfeld, who helmed their breakthrough You Forgot It in People (2002) and self-titled 2005 album. Across the 12 tracks, the arrangements are dense and enveloping – a lattice of horns, guitars, voices, and electronics – yet melody always remains sovereign, refusing to be swallowed by the sheer sound. When the music drifts towards abstraction, a grounding bass line arrives to anchor the listener, reminding us always that there are human hands on the controls and that, however artful, this is still rock and roll.

This sensibility crystallizes in Remember The Humans’ opening track and lead single “Not Around Anymore,” where Broken Social Scene’s co-founder Kevin Drew incants about the disappearance of possibility in a world where “it’s all gone away.” But the nostalgia hinted at by the lyrics is gently resisted by the music: by invoking a past that has vanished, the song unexpectedly floods the present with a glow that rivals the very greatness being lamented. 

Broken Social Scene tour dates

6/8 – Moody Amphitheater – Austin, TX

6/9 – South Side Ballroom – Dallas, TX

6/11 – Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO

6/13 – Sandy Amphitheater – Sandy, UT

6/16 – The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

6/17 – Arizona Financial Theatre – Phoenix, AZ

6/19 – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre – San Diego, CA

6/21 – The Masonic – San Francisco, CA

6/24 – Hayden Homes Amphitheater – Bend, OR

7/24 – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL

7/25 – Fox Theatre – Detroit, MI

7/27 – MGM Music Hall at Fenway – Boston, MA

7/28 – The Met – Philadelphia, PA

7/30 – Brooklyn Paramount – Brooklyn, NY

8/1 – The Anthem – Washington, DC

8/3 – Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA

8/4 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN

8/7 – RBC Amphitheatre – Toronto, ON