Jason Collett

Jason Collett knows a lot of talented, popular Canadian musicians and many of them contributed to this solo release from the current-day Broken Social Scenester. Folks like Leslie Feist, Hawksley Workman, Mia Sheard and Brendan Canning could be forgiven for forgetting what it was they did on Collett’s album though, as about half of these tracks date back to the late 1990s. Despite being promoted as a "new album,” this edition is merely a re-release of Collett’s 2002 disc of the same name, which was itself a compilation featuring tracks from two previous CDs dating back to the late 1990s. Sure, these are solid, well-produced tunes that make for an outstanding record (one that tends towards sparse country but mixes it up Wilco A.M.-style with episodes of classic pop and quiet balladry), but it’s time to move on, dude. One would think that having played host to a weekly songwriters-in-the-round series for the past few years, Collett would’ve penned a few new ones of his own by now. And maybe something along the lines of a "best of” retail demarcation is in order here.