Same Social Scene

Spirit If ...
Broken Social Scene presents: Kevin Drew
Arts & Crafts, 2007
3.5 stars

Okay, so here we have a 'solo album' by Broken Social Scene's frontman, presented by Broken Social Scene, with almost every member of Broken Social Scene featuring on it. In terms of actually being a solo album, this is the like a kid 'running away from home' and hiding in the carport - Drew has hardly flown the coop. And thank the gods for that - Spirt If ... picks up right where BSS' excellent self-titled 2005 release left off, with the same carefully-arranged clutter of strings, woodwinds and percussion and just the right amount of slacker attitude. Drew is a modern-day hippie, known for spontaneously hugging crowd members at gigs, and Spirit If ... really captures his warmth and great songwriting skills. And as if enlisting the entire BSS collective wasn't enough, he's also got Dinosaur Jr's J. Mascis and Pavement's Spiral Stairs lending their axes. Impressive.

Artwork: C

Published in mX, Thursday 27 September 2007.