Jason Collett (Broken Social Scene)
This one's more of a slow burn, it takes a while to reveal itself," explains Jason Collett of his new album Idols of Exile, released February on Arts & Crafts Records. "It's the same thing with the Broken Social Scene record -- you won't get it all at once." Collett is absolutely right in both cases. At first, neither Idols of Exile (his first proper solo album, since 2003's Motor Motel Love Songs merely collected scattered works from years past) nor Broken Social Scene's sprawling 2005 self-titled LP (the first disc Collett recorded as part of the collective) seemed to live up to the lofty expectations set by BSS's You Forgot It In People, the 2003 CD that initially focused attention on the Toronto scene. The new BSS album seemed to bite off a little more than it could chew; conversely, Idols of Exile sounded too straightforward to the jaded ear. And yet, both contained that indefinable something that begged another listen.
"Sometimes the best music takes a while to sink in. And that's what's so hard about this, living how we do," Collett muses. Art that leaves an immediate impression can be desirable in our quickened pace of life, but that doesn't discount the fact that lasting beauty hides in the details. What you might miss at first listen to Idols of Exile is Collett's ability to establish layers of subtext using only a few conversational words. Over time, the songs' lean arrangements give way to a hauntingly rich and supportive instrumentation, supplied mainly by multi-instrumentalist producer Howie Beck and Collett's Arts & Crafts cohorts.
As both his and BSS's albums were recorded at roughly the same time last year, Collett could capitalize on the availability of his far-flung friends. "I wouldn't have an idea of what they should play, or even what instrument they should play," he says. "It was more that I just wanted their personality on the song." Hence, harmonizing horn parts materialized out of the ether, bowed vibes rang where there was silence, and "Hangover Days," turned into a duet with Metric's Emily Haines.
"I just have such a good group of friends," Collett says. "You know which city has the third largest concentrations of Canadians? Los Angeles. People used leave to do what they wanted to do. Instead, we turned inward. We became our own support. I couldn't imagine a better group of people." -Maurice Spencer Teilmann
