Jason Collett: Idols of Exile

Occasional Broken Social Scenester finds voice on new solo album

Part-time Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett is really a solo troubadour at heart—despite the wonderfully messy indie rock he makes with BSS, his inclinations lean more toward country and roots music. Collett’s new disc, on which he’s aided by members of the Montreal collective, travels the dusty paths of heartbreak and late-afternoon drinking via songs that range from droning acoustic-guitar reverie (“Tinsel and Sawdust”) to pointed, driving rock (“I’ll Bring the Sun”). Collett dispenses with the mundane conventions of the singer/songwriter genre as he forges portraits both intimate and worldly over engaging arrangements and lyrics.