The strategy surrounding the release of Broken Social Scene’s Let’s Try The After Vols. 1 & 2 came out of a desire from both the artist and the label to bridge the gap between the band’s triumphant 2017 return, Hug Of Thunder, and whatever is next to come for the indie-rock stalwarts.

We came to the conclusion that a novel approach would be best. We separated the album into two EP (Vols. 1 & 2), releasing them as digital exclusives at first.

Vol. 1 started off with a bang leading with the single ‘All I Want’, sung by the band’s Andrew Whiteman, his first time singing lead with the band since ‘Fire Eyed Boy’.

This was followed by the main single of the EP, ‘Boyfriends’, which was accompanied by a highly meme-able video, targeted primarily at social distribution. Along with the video and song, we heavily leaned into the timing of the song. Falling near Valentine’s Day, we created a microsite where fans of the band were able to send personalised digital cards to their loved ones. This was covered by Rolling Stone and other outlets.

The release of the Vol 2 EP included a full commercial radio push featuring the band’s most radio-friendly song to date, ‘Can’t Find My Heart’. Immediately following the release of Vol. 2, a collected vinyl pressing of the two EPs was made available as a Record Store Day exclusive. This campaign included the band’s first appearance on US network daytime TV with CBS This Morning. The EPs were both featured on all major press outlets including Rolling Stone, Spin, Stereogum, Pitchfork and more.

Splitting the album into two EPs allowed us to extend the life cycle of not only this collection of songs but also Hug Of Thunder. This novel approach helped us to keep Broken Social Scene top of mind for fans and further entrench the band in the streaming era.