INTERVIEWSStream Jason Collett's Folksy, Occupy-Inspired 'Reckon'

The Broken Social Scene member's new LP includes bonus retrospective disc

Don't let Jason Collett's soft touch fool you — the Toronto-based Broken Social Scene player is a powerful songwriter with a voice that cuts through whatever murk the week's piled about your head.

His seventh album, Reckon, is plenty proof of what this man can do with his pipes, a guitar, and a little help from his friends (BSS's Kevin Drew stops by, as do Zeus, Basia Bulat, and Bahamas). Loss is the dominant theme, but these songs don't sulk — they're still transcendent, even though their politics are informed by the current economy and the love songs are, as Collett has said, "emotive reflections" of that same debt. The Occupy Wall Street movement was a direct influence, as can be heard in the relatively literal, "I Wanna Rob a Bank."

The new long-player is due out September 25 via Arts and Crafts, and though it's more than enough to confirm the fella's mettle, it also comes with a second disc dubbed Essential Cuts. That 11-track set is exactly what it sounds like: a career-spanning retrospective. Guests include Feist, Stars' Amy Milan, Metric's Emily Haines and others, and two previously unreleased B-sides round out the set.

• 02:49PlayJason Collett — Pacific Blue
• 02:17PlayJason Collett — Jasper Johns Flag
• 02:10PlayJason Collett — King James Rag
• 01:49PlayJason Collett — Sailor Boy
• 02:00PlayJason Collett — Ask No Questions
• 02:40PlayJason Collett — You're Not The One And Only Lonely One
• 02:31PlayJason Collett — Miss Canada
• 02:06PlayJason Collett — Talk Radio
• 03:17PlayJason Collett — I Wanna Rob A Bank
• 03:48PlayJason Collett — Where Things Go Wrong
• 03:11PlayJason Collett — Song Of The Silver Haired Hippie
• 01:53PlayJason Collett — Black Diamond Girl
• 03:26PlayJason Collett — My Daddy Was A RocknRoller
• 02:58PlayJason Collett — Don't Let The Truth Get To You
• 04:47PlayJason Collett — When The War Came Home