Album review: Broods relax, put their middle fingers up and release their best album yet

Caleb and Georgia Nott are having more fun than they've ever had on their third album, Don't Feed the Pop Monster.

Restrained, nervous, a little tense. You couldn't blame them: Georgia and Caleb Nott were performing in front of 40,000 people at Mt Smart Stadium, opening for none other than pop juggernaut Taylor Swift.

Suddenly, they opened up. Their stifled early songs were out of the way and the group relaxed. Georgia's pink jacket came off. Caleb wiggled his hips. It was their last song, it was a new song, and it was a banger.

"Everything's looking peach now," bellowed Georgia, stamping her feet during Peach's huge hook. It was a stunning moment, one so uplifting, so joyous, you can't help but wonder what would have happened if Broods had started their set, or even their career, just like that.

Wonder no more. Don't Feed the Pop Monster makes full amends for 2016's Conscious, a record that felt so focus grouped it might shatter under the strain. This is the best, the most confident, and the most enjoyable album yet from the Nelson brother-sister duo. It's the album they were born to make.

It's also the one where they raise their middle finger to the pop industry machine. "I'm not here just to please / Get that leash off of me," spits Georgia with obvious venom on Old Dog, a stunner that sounds like they invited The B-52s to the best house party ever. Like much of the album, it sounds like nothing they've done before.

Georgia especially sounds fired up and ready to confront things. She's become a fully fledged front woman, a role she sometimes seemed to struggle with. Much can be read into her lyrics: songs like Dust ("Feels like I've been sleeping forever / It isn't enough to pretend anymore") or the distorted pop brilliance of Falling Apart ("There's a fault in the system / So much talk and no listen") reek of don't-give-a-f*** confidence, and it suits her.

Together, the pair sound free to be themselves, and the results are a revelation. From the shimmering electronica of opener Sucker, to the ravey euphoria of Hospitalized, and the crackly closing ballad Life After, Don't Feed the Pop Monster is so light and airy, washed in a 60s summer hue, it's hard to believe it's from the same band that wrote super serious electro-stomps like Free and Mother & Father. It's just peachy.

Don't Feed the Pop Monster - Broods

Label: Neon Gold Records
Verdict: Broods bounce back with album full of snarky fun

• Don't Feed the Pop Monster is released on February 1.