Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the other core members of the band are Justin Peroff (drums), Andrew Whiteman (guitar) and Charles Spearin (guitar). Other longtime members and collaborators include Evan Cranley (trombone, guitar), Sam Goldberg (guitar), James Shaw (trumpet, various instruments) and David French (saxophone, flute). Vocalists Leslie Feist, Emily Haines, Amy Millan, Lisa Lobsinger and Ariel Engle have made significant contributions to the band's studio albums and live performances across its career.
Most of its members play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly in the city of Toronto. These associated acts include Metric, Feist, Stars, Apostle of Hustle, Do Make Say Think, KC Accidental, Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton and Jason Collett. The group's sound combines elements of all of its members' respective musical projects, and is occasionally considered baroque pop. It includes grand orchestrations featuring guitars, horns, woodwinds, and violins, unusual song structures, and an experimental, and sometimes chaotic production style from David Newfeld, who produced the band's second, third and sixth albums.
The band has released six studio albums to date: Feel Good Lost (2001), You Forgot It in People (2002), Broken Social Scene (2005), Forgiveness Rock Record (2010), Hug of Thunder (2017) and Remember the Humans (2026), alongside various EPs, compilations and companion albums.
Stuart Berman's This Book Is Broken (2009) covers the band from its inception to its critical acclaim. In 2010, Bruce McDonald made This Movie Is Broken, a movie about the band's Harbourfront show during the 2009 Toronto strike. In 2024, cinematographer Stephen Chung collaborated with his longtime friends in the band to complete and release the film It's All Gonna Break, a project he had set aside in 2007, using new as well as historical footage he had filmed throughout the band's career.
The collective and their respective projects have had a broad influence on alternative music and indie rock during the early 21st century; in 2021, Pitchfork listed the band among the "most important artists" of the last 25 years.
The band was formed in 1999 by core members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. This duo recorded and released the band's ambient debut album, Feel Good Lost, on Noise Factory Records in 2001, with contributions by Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Bill Priddle, Leslie Feist, Jessica Moss and Stars' Evan Cranley.
Drew and Canning's material at the time was almost entirely instrumental, so they brought together musicians from the Toronto indie scene, the album contributors as well as Andrew Whiteman, Jason Collett, and Metric's Emily Haines, to flesh out their live show with lyrics and vocals. Over time, the band came to include contributions from James Shaw, Justin Peroff, John Crossingham, and Stars member Amy Millan.
2002–2004: You Forgot It in People
All of the musicians from the live show joined Drew, Canning, Peroff and Spearin to record the band's second album, You Forgot It in People. The album was produced by David Newfeld and released on Paper Bag Records in October 2002 and won the Alternative Album of the Year Juno Award in 2003. The album also included musical contributions by Priddle, Jessica Moss, Brodie West, Susannah Brady and Ohad Benchetrit, but these were credited as supporting musicians rather than band members. On the supporting tour, the core band consisted of Drew, Canning, Peroff, Whiteman and Jason Collett, along whichever band members were available on each show date.
In 2003, the B-sides and remix collection Bee Hives was released.
Broken Social Scene's song "Lover's Spit" from 2002's You Forgot It in People has been featured in director Clément Virgo's movie Lie with Me (2005), Paul McGuigan's Wicker Park (2004), Bruce McDonald's The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess (2004), Showtime's Queer as Folk (2003) and the penultimate episode of the Canadian series Terminal City (2005). The version of "Lover's Spit" found on 2004's Bee Hives record was also featured in an episode of the third season of the FX series Nip/Tuck. Showtime's television program The L Word featured "Pacific Theme" and "Looks Just Like the Sun", both from You Forgot It in People, in the show's first season. "Lover's Spit" is referenced in the 2013 Lorde song, "Ribs". "Looks Just Like the Sun" was featured in the 2006 film Swedish Auto. "Stars and Sons" from You Forgot It in People also appeared in the movie The Invisible. Music from the band's albums was used to score the 2006 film Half Nelson.
2005–2007: Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene released their third full-length album, Broken Social Scene, also produced by Newfeld, in October 2005, with new contributors including k-os, Jason Tait and Murray Lightburn. New band members were Newfeld and Torquil Campbell, who were members of the band Stars. A limited edition EP, EP to Be You and Me was also printed along with the album.
Broken Social Scene performed "7/4 (Shoreline)" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on January 31, 2006, and that year they performed "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" at the 2006 Juno Awards, at which their self-titled album won the Alternative Album of the Year award. In August the band went on a European tour. Returning in September, they were last-minute replacement performers at North America's first Virgin Festival, at Toronto Islands Park after headliners Massive Attack cancelled due to problems involving obtaining US visas. The band quickly assembled to play a one-hour closing performance on the main stage, following The Strokes and The Raconteurs. Through the performance the band was joined by Feist, Amy Millan of Stars, k-os, and Emily Haines of Metric. This was the last show featuring the entire 15 member line-up of the band until 2009.
After a US tour in November, the band went on hiatus while members worked on their other projects. In late 2006, several members of the band appeared as special guests on The Stars and Suns Sessions, the second album from Mexican indie band Chikita Violenta. The album was produced by Dave Newfeld.
In May 2008, the band contributed a T-shirt design for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money and awareness for the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. The shirt was designed by their drummer, Justin Peroff, and bears the slogan "Hope for Truth".
Members of Broken Social Scene composed and recorded an original score for director Marc Evans's film Snow Cake, as well as scored his 2007 film adaptation of Maureen Medved's novel, The Tracey Fragments. In 2009, Bruce McDonald directed a short documentary episode of IFC's The Rawside Of... that focused on the making of Brendan Canning's solo album Something for All of Us.
2007–2008: Broken Social Scene Presents...