Kevin Drew

Broken Social Scene albums have always portrayed the Toronto supergroup as the sort of quasi-faceless collective into which countless members' identities are subsumed—even voices as distinct as Leslie Feist's become just another brick in BSS's wall of sound. Still, more often than not, BSS founder Kevin Drew's understated vocal charisma ends up drifting to the top, and it's that world-weary drawl that dominates Spirit If…, Drew's messy, beautiful first attempt at a "solo" album.

With its low-key acoustic numbers that explode into howling choruses, charmingly overused trombones and waves of fuzzed-up melancholy, Spirit If… sounds very much like "the new Broken Social Scene album"—and indeed, much of the band guests on the record (along with Drew's indie idols J. Mascis and Pavement's Spiral Stairs), warranting its Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew tag. But with his vocals and songs taking center stage, Drew incurs a new level of scrutiny, which he weathers with effortless grace. His songs have a shruggy, tossed-off quality that's deceptively shambolic—Drew is a songwriter of real nuance with a keen ear for the slightly tweaked structure. "F--ked Up Kid," for instance, has an elliptical structure that keeps the listener waiting for an achingly simple three-note hook, and the Feist duet "Safety Bricks" plays with its chorus' lyrical ambiguity ("I won't kiss / with safety bricks") by shifting its harmonic underpinning.

Though the quality from song to song rarely wavers, Spirit If…could still stand some editing—its hour-plus running time and lengthy songs make it a bit of a slog. But Drew reveals a talent for stopping time, sustaining a mood so that the endless verse-chorus repetitions in the impossibly starry-eyed anthem "The Lucky Ones" build the song's momentum each time they roll around. Broken Social Scene was always a wide-screen take on Kevin Drew's musical vision, but once the camera zooms in, we see that beneath the band's fuzz 'n bluster lies a songwriter worthy of his idols' legacy.

—Todd Goldstein
09.27.07

Although Spirit If... is officially a Kevin Drew release, based on the number of Broken Social Scene members, associates, and friends who appear on it, the fact that the song "TBTF" appears on BSS's MySpace site, and that the actual album cover itself reads "Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew," it's pretty easy to believe the lead singer and co-founder is just acting as a front for the entire band. Not that anyone in the Toronto-based collective has ever shunned the idea of collaborations: even on more traditional "solo" work, there's always been the idea that guest artists, those who make up the group, can bring immeasurable advantages with their own personal expertise and ideas. So such is the attitude behind Spirit If..., an album that, while it certainly doesn't break from the subtly ornate, orchestral lushness that Broken Social Scene does so well, is able to play a little more with sparseness, with the meaning behind rests and pauses. "Broke Me Up" has a nice indie country feel, complete with slide guitar and a piano that does more than simply add depth and layers to the background, but actually takes something that resembles a solo, as Drew sings in a sad whisper. The vocals, too, are mixed at a level that allows comprehension, even if the words themselves aren't always understood. But Drew is more about overall effect and atmosphere than the significance found in individual songs and phrases -- which excuses the fact that a lot of things he says don't make a lot of sense -- and also means that Spirit If... is the kind of album that takes some time to set in, whose melodies and acoustic guitar backgrounds and occasional burst of anger need the luxury of distance and reflection to truly find their place. This doesn't mean that there aren't some great moments here -- the dark, pulsating Greg Dulli-inspired "Frightening Lives," the wonderful chamber pop of "Bodhi Sappy Weekend," which features the background vocal talents of Feist -- but the record is focused more on the future, on creating an impression, than on immediate satisfaction, giving it an appeal that only strengthens as time goes on, and making Spirit If... another impressive, affective release in the ever-growing Broken Social Scene catalog. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide