Why Broods Wants To Drop It Like It's Hot

You may know them as courtiers of the pop queen Lorde, but Broods are breaking out with their second album, Conscious.

Encouraged by their now in-demand producer Joel Little, famously Lorde's studio cohort, the New Zealand brother/sister synth-pop combo — Caleb and Georgia Nott — augured a new direction with April's comeback single Free. It's closer to Depeche Mode's '80s industrial than the ethereal emowave of Broods' ARIA Top 5 Evergreen — only the perennially tortured Dave Gahan might envy Georgia's unexpected gospel hook, "Hallelujah, I'm free". As Broods' singer-songwriter, she's impatient for fans to hear Conscious in its entirety. "If it was up to me, I'd probably just do a Beyonce and drop it all at once and not tell anyone," Georgia Nott confesses.

On the eve of Free's release, Broods boldly followed Little by relocating from Auckland to Los Angeles, the entertainment industry's epicentre. Incredibly, in the short time since, they've wrapped North American dates supporting long-term Broods advocate Ellie Goulding (the Kiwis were 'special guests' on her 2014 Australasian run). Georgia is already happily settled in California. "It's good — it's been a surprisingly easy transition, to be honest," she enthuses. "It's been pretty painless… Well, when we got furniture, it helped. We were living in a very empty flat for a while!"

"As long as it's you, then nobody can tell you that you do it wrong. It's just like, 'Go your own way. You can't be regretful of something that you have poured your whole heart into.'"

Broods are reticent interviewees. In the past, journos have been advised not to probe them about their friendships with either Lorde or Goulding. Few know that earlier this year the charming Georgia, who often laughs nervously, quietly wed.

The Notts were surrounded by music growing up in Nelson on NZ's South Island — their parents even performed in an ABBA tribute act. The pair encountered Little, former frontman of the punk-pop Goodnight Nurse, in 2011 while gigging in the indie band The Peasants — he judged a music comp they trumped. Initially, Georgia, The Peasants' lead vocalist, worked with him, indulging her love of artfully melancholy pop. She eventually conceived Broods with the older Caleb as instrumentalist and Little produced them. Ironically, it was Little's experimentation with Georgia that convinced Lorde's then manager Scott Maclachlan to reach out to him. And, with Little's guidance, Lorde went on to magic the Grammy-winning Royals.

In late 2013 Broods shared their epic single Bridges online and soon it was a blog phenom. This, coupled with their connection to Lorde, had major label A&Rs circling. The next year, the fast-moving duo unveiled their debut, Evergreen, inevitably prologued by an EP. Broods' songs have been licensed for US TV programs like MTV's reality staple Catfish — and they've guested on talk shows (recently The Late Late Show With James Corden).

Georgia's timidity with the media oddly contrasts her new stridency as a vocalist on Conscious, which is overall edgier, and harder, than Evergreen. In early 2015 Caleb indicated to The Music that Broods' second would have "a little more of real instrumentation" over programming and "an organic feel". But, aside from the rock-stabbed We Had Everything, Conscious' vibe is still electronic. "It's definitely heavier," Georgia states. "I think Free's a very good example of the way that the production is headed. Everything's not as aggressive as Free (laughs), but it's definitely more produced. It's gonna be a really fun album to play live — it's pretty upbeat and [it has] massive sound."

"I'm such a massive fan of Tom Odell's voice that he can sing the bloody phonebook and I'd love it."

Little is executive producer of Conscious, but Broods also cut tracks with the emerging Australian Alex Hope (Troye Sivan) and LA posse Captain Cuts (their best-known song Jessica Mauboy's To The End Of The Earth). "It's always cool working with new producers because you get to kind of experiment with their style," Georgia says. As such, Conscious is more adventurous. "We definitely found ourselves as writers with this record. I'm still very confident that it's 100 percent us — and that's all you can really do, though. As long as it's you, then nobody can tell you that you do it wrong. It's just like, 'Go your own way. You can't be regretful of something that you have poured your whole heart into.'" As siblings, Broods can afford to be critical of each other in the studio, too. "There's not really anything we don't know about each other, so we can be 100 percent honest," Georgia posits. "It means that, when we are unsure about something, we don't have to beat around the bush… It makes it easier to be productive."

Conscious has a hot cameo. On the alt anthem Freak Of Nature, Georgia duets with grungy Swedish electro-pop scion Tove Lo — fresh off her hit Flume hook-up Say It. However, even that is bound to be overshadowed by Broods' co-write with the elusive Lorde: the airy Heartlines. "We actually wrote it quite a while back when we were solely working on stuff in the studio and we had quite a bit of time," Georgia says. "[Lorde] was working on stuff at the same time. It just kinda happened that we were all in the same place at the same time. Joel invited her in to have a session and see what came out — and it turned out to be a really cool song. She's just a ridiculously-talented-for-how-young-she-is person. It was really cool. She's really enthusiastic about what she does. It was a real positive session. The song's very positive as well — I mean, 'positive' compared to the sad stuff that I listen to!"

Now that Broods are in the hub of LA, they want to further collaborate. The Notts teamed with another prodigy, Troye Sivan, in Sydney for Ease — the prettiest number on his US smash debut Blue Neighbourhood. Georgia lately performed it with the Perth star at one of his rammed New York shows. "It's the first time we've ever sang it together on stage, so it was such an awesome experience." Georgia has expressed an ambition to write for film. In fact, her personal music tastes are introspective. She is "really excited" about Tom Odell's Wrong Crowd as well as her old fave Bat For Lashes' The Bride. "I'm such a massive fan of Tom Odell's voice that he can sing the bloody phonebook and I'd love it. But his new stuff is really cool and really edgy compared to the last album."

In 2016 Broods have returned to the live circuit spectacularly, opening for Goulding. "It was very different playing arenas in America — we've never had that experience before, so that was awesome," Georgia notes, scrupulously avoiding any mention of being in Goulding's squad. Last touring Australia in tandem with 2015's Groovin The Moo, Broods will come winter headline east coast shows behind Conscious (drummer in tow). "There's so many songs that we are imagining live, so I think it'll be quite a lot of new stuff," Georgia considers. "It's gonna be a lot of work getting there, but it's exciting. We're totally ready to play some new stuff, especially because we've been holding out to release stuff — let alone play it." No rest for the wickedly cool, then? "I actually really like working hard," Georgia quips. "I feel like I'm being really productive."