Kevin Drew was paying attention when Ringo Starr confessed to getting by with a little help from his friends. In doing so, Drew took the concept of collaboration to a new level in the making of his first "solo" album, Spirit If... The Broken Social Scene member uses his connections wisely throughout, drawing on the talent of his gifted bandmates. Produced by Charles Spearin and Ohad Benchetrit (of Do Make Say Think), Spirit If... benefits from a laundry list of unexpected contributors, including Evan Cranley, J Mascis, Scott Kannberg and even Tom Cochrane, with other Broken Social Scene stars (Leslie Feist, Metric's Emily Haines, Stars' Amy Millan) lending backing vocals.
Spirit If... explores plenty of promising themes, but its most winning song is "Lucky Ones," which spans nearly seven minutes of memorable hooks, girl-group "ohs" and "yeahs," and hopeful affirmations, suitable for singing along. As optimistic as "Lucky Ones" is, hope comes easy when it accompanies this much talent.
Listen to yesterday's 'Song of the Day.'
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