Broods Welcome You To Grieve On Space Island

By Gabriel Aikins


As much as it may hurt, grief is a needed piece of life. It permits for the processing of loss and can be a reminder of cherished memories that will never be forgotten. Most importantly, it spurs growth and introspection. Joy may spring from sorrow, and that’s where its true value lies. Siblings Georgia and Caleb Nott, better referred to as New Zealand pop duo Broods, have been through much turbulence over the last couple years. They’ve since transformed it into their new album Space Island, and they’re inviting listeners to take the journey with them.


Immediately after releasing their third record Don’t Feed The Pop Monster in February 2019, vocalist Georgia went through a painful divorce, and things shut off in March of the following year as COVID-19 took hold. It was from this position that she and multi-instrumentalist Caleb first started to work on what would become Space Island, an album that struck both of those as deeply personalized. Georgia recalls realizing the enormity of the emotion she poured into her writing. “There was certainly a time any time Whenever I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to share this with people,’” she tells MTV News. In that way, both Notts are grateful for the extended time a pandemic album cycle afforded them, as it has allowed them the distance required to finally talk about this project.


The duo are exceptionally close, and their sibling bond runs deep. While Georgia's divorce initially spurred the creative process, Caleb says he felt his sister’s pain. He also mentions that, by the time Space Island’s songs were completed, he had also damaged up with his partner. And while the pair love making songs with each other, they implemented some tweaks to let each other mourn flawlessly. “There are quite a lot [of songs] that we began with each other, however quite a couple of that [Georgia] needed to write on her own. And then we required to build around that afterwards,” Caleb says.


The concept of Space Island came early, with writing beginning immediately after Pop Monster’s release and the upheaval in Georgia and Caleb’s lives. Caleb, who also produces much of the pair’s output, explains that their creative process typically necessitates bringing in a couple of new collaborators before narrowing down a core categorize of producers and writers to help complete an album. Although the pandemic tweaked that plan. “It was just a lot of companions we worked on this album with… Most of it was just worked on by four of us who were in the same bubble,” he says, referring to Broods and their companions, producers Leroy Clampitt and Stint. Having those close relationships was key because the musical group worked through their pain.


To help mentally see this process, both Georgia and Caleb view Space Island as an actual place somewhere off in space, an idea supported by Georgia’s futuristic jumpsuit and glass coffin-like “craft” in the project’s music videos and album cover, which finds her floating down a tranquil river with a vast landscape to explore beyond her. The island’s purpose is to act as somewhere to go throughout the grieving process. “We began to identify how that relates to grief and loss and heartbreak,” Georgia says. “Those times right after something like that happens, how you sort of feel a little like you've been flung out of orbit, and you're feeling alienated.” From there on, the idea further crystalized, and the duo started watching science fiction films from the 1960s and ‘70s to increase inspiration for both the visuals and sound of the album.


The spacefaring movies they watched paired flawlessly with what they wanted the record to sound like. “We routinely wanted it to be a shiny thing that had quite a lot of nostalgic songs,” Georgia says. It’s easy to hear this influence on pre-album releases like “Piece of My Mind” and “Heartbreak,” which combine funky guitar lines with soaring and shimmering synths. While it can seem eccentric that a darker, probing album sounds so warm and inviting, Caleb and Georgia wanted to explore each stage of grief, including eventually reaching peace and acceptance.


The duo’s differing approaches to using music to deal with their harsher emotions also contributed to this sound. “Georgia will write music and she's likely to write about feelings and get them down and process things, whereas music is a different tool for me,” Caleb says. “I don't necessarily use it to process things. I do it to get out of my head and go away from things like that.” The result is a merging of the two techniques, with a radiant and lively layer of production over the raw, impassioned writing from Georgia, like on the snare- and synth-fueled “Days Are Passing,” where she sings about the world and time itself passing her by as she grieves.


The extra time in a bubble allowed Broods to flex their creative muscles outdoors of music, as well. From the intrepid visuals to the narrative structure of the rollout — each single for now has been presented as a “chapter,” with each music video directly continuing the story from where the previous one left off — the duo gave deep thought to every aspect of Space Island. “Even though it's been the heaviest subject to write about, it's been the most enjoyable to do, because we just created that whole story and world to exist,” Georgia says.


Caleb adds that previous album cycles noticed them scrambling a little to get everything done before release, so the added time to develop themes and also a more ambitious vision on Space Island was something the siblings noticed beneficial. Furthermore, the pair were able to work with director and childhood friend Sam Kristofski to make several of the visuals. They both count the time spent driving around New Zealand to capture footage with Kristofski as some of their preference moments creating Space Island.


While Space Island the album and the “place” were key for Broods to process their grief, they both make it clear it’s not a permanent residence. “It's meant to be left,” Caleb says. It’s a place that allowed Georgia and Caleb to recover from heartbreak and isolation, and they’re both overjoyed of the album they’ve put out. With the healing done, Broods are looking forward to what comes next. And if that grief comes back, Space Island will constantly be there.