Fresh off the back of pursuing solo projects, brother & sister electro-pop duo Broods have returned with their third full length album Don’t Feed the Pop Monster.
Hailing from New Zealand, Broods have already established themselves in their home country and Australia, but aren’t quite as well-known over in the UK (though being featured in an ad for Kayak last year will certainly have helped). Since their debut in 2013, Georgia and Caleb Nott have been collaborating with artists such as Lorde, Troye Sivan and Tove Lo and have drawn enough attention to tour with Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith.
Continuing to work with Joel Little as producer, established fans of the band will be pleased to hear the band continue to build on their polished production and big, expansive synth-heavy stylings of their initial years. Opening track “Sucker”, with lyrics that are upbeat in its introspective reflection, 80s-infused synth intro and pulsing rhythm is such an example and is a cracking way to get things going.
It’s the same story with lead single “Peach” too which is a classic Broods track, complete with catchy chorus line and an oh-so-easy-to-dance-to mentality. While this method works well, admirable restraint is shown in maintaining subtlety in “Why Do You Believe Me” which could very easily have been drowned in sweeping strings and powerful drums. Instead the hypnotic vocals are allowed to shine with ethereal little trills here and there over the solid bass work.
As the album enters its mid-point however it’s evident that Broods are looking to develop their songwriting abilities further than generic, shiny pop music. Rather than being solely all about the hooks and accessibility like previous album Conscious, DFTPM delves into slightly more abstract arrangements and instrumentation.
The dark, funky bass on “Hospitalized” is a good example of how new ideas can be applied to the band’s existing template without losing the character of their music. Tracks such as “Dust” even see them positively embrace a more indie-based style with real drums and guitar which on the face of it makes for a decent song. I’m still on the fence though as to how much mileage there is in an electronic band doing much of this; it just feels a little middle-of-the-road, like something from James Morrison.
Sometimes it works and sometimes it definitely doesn’t though, as demonstrated in the spiky, Republica-esque “Old Dog”. Again the guitars come to the forefront as the synths step back but it just feels like a little too much of a departure of their signature sound and rather sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison to the rest of the album. The surprises aren’t all unwelcome though, “Too Proud” sees Caleb take on some lead vocals for the first time and although a little too generic for my tastes, it could easily become a crowd favourite at live performances.
Development and growth are things I like to see in music and, fruitful or not, should be applauded. There’s always a fine line when trying this though and when it comes together the combination between keeping what’s worked well before without stagnating and pushing some established borders results in a great album. With DFTPM, it hasn’t quite worked in a few places but it’ll still make a valid addition to your music library. If you like your electro-pop on the alternative side of accessible, Broods are a band you should check out. Darker at times than you might expect from hearing their previous efforts, Don’t Feed The Pop Monster is still worthy of a spin but they’ll be a few tracks that might often get skipped.
Favourite tracks – “Sucker”, “Peach”, “Hospitalized”
Author: Steve, Bristol store
