Evergreen | Broods

★★★★☆

Siblings are typically known for quarreling for years on end, pulling pranks on each another, and causing general chaos against the will of their parents. However, this isn't the case for the brother and sister duo of Georgia and Caleb Nott, who have now been added to an elite group of siblings that uphold a certain behavioral anomaly allowing them to actually get along. Together, they have created Broods, their own indie-pop duo, and have now dropped a full-length album in cooperation with fellow New Zealand native Joel Little.

Evergreen's release was preceded by the duo's highly-marked self-titled debut EP - the two most popular tracks from the Broods EP, "Never Gonna Change" and "Bridges," were lifted and transferred to this album - and the official lead single, "Mother & Father," which opens the album. The song is lead by a persistent drumbeat and thrives on its beautiful melody line and lyrics. In the song, Nott expresses feelings of weariness towards growing older as she sings, "And ever since I left my mother / It’s much harder to know / How to make my own life here / How to make my own home." (For those moving off to college this year, this may be the perfect song for you.)

Broods is able to expand off of the sound from their debut extended play in cuts like "L.A.F" and "Everytime." The first song contains some deep synths that blossom in the chorus, distant shouts, and a skipping drum and hand-clap patterned. It debuted on MTV in July and while in an interview with the network, Georgia Nott admitted that the song's titled stands for "loose as fuck" and said, "It’s about that phase that you go through when you hit 18 and everyone starts going out and they start going to parties. It’s about experiencing all that new and exciting nightlife-type thing as a friend group.” (Perhaps another great song for new college students?)

The likes of "Four Walls" and "Sober" first paint pictures of initially gushy love stories and heart-wrenching separations, but the aftermath of a sour relationship is quickly explored in "Everytime" as Nott questions her commitment: "Cause every time is the last time / And I'm kicking myself just trying to be understanding / Tell me how can you fake that? / You're leaving me waiting and acting like I'm so demanding."  More post break-up thoughts come through on tracks like "Killing You" and the delicate "Medicine," but this time, we find a hollowed Nott humming odes to loneliness: "And you're my storm / I can't compete / And I'm forlorn, moving only on your breeze / And I'll never be free."

As mentioned before, Joel Little was the third and only other set of hands on Evergreen with the Notts; he is most famously known for his work on Lorde's Pure Heroine. There are a few songs here that overlap the general sounds of Lorde's record, both the title track and "Superstar," but it's not overly obvious to general listeners. "Evergreen," shares the same sharp snaps of a drum machine and sad synths with Lorde's "Tennis Court," while the production and vocal delivery on "Superstar" put me in mind of the latter half of "Buzzcut Season." Neither comparison majorly inhibits the content of the album, but it is worth noting.

New Zealand has recently had a knack for exporting young, talented acts like a well-oiled machine and Broods is the country's most recent shipment. With only one documented year in the making yet the fine-tuning of a good record that signifies that it could have been quietly ripening for the most of the duo's secondary schooling years, Evergreen is a ten piece suite that appeals to easily-pleased teenage indie pop fans and finicky music critics alike. Plants that are evergreen stay consistently beautiful and lively, and Broods proves that an album titled Evergreen holds true to the same definition.

Evergreen has already been released in Australia and New Zealand, but is slated for release in the United States on October 7, 2014 under Capitol Records.