In the second track of the solo debut from Broken Social Scene co-founding member Kevin Drew, he whispers one of the most weirdly romantic statements of love that has been uttered in the 21st century: “You are too beautiful to fuck.” The song is titled “Tbtf” (guess what that stands for…) and like much of the first album in the Broken Social Scene Presents: series, which will feature another co-founding member Brendan Canning next, seems like it very well could be the next proper release from the Canadian juggernaut.

Perhaps what is most strange about the fact that Kevin Drew is just now taking his shot at a solo proper is the fact that the band he started with Brendan Canning has spurred so many solo albums before he finally decided to take the plunge himself. People like Amy Millan, Jason Collett, Emily Haines, and someone named Leslie Feist – which some people tell me can sing a note or two – have all taken the dive into the solo waters from the Scene before Drew. And I say it is about time.

“Farewell to the Pressure Kids” kicks the disc off and features a distorted Drew struggling to be heard over a raucous full band onslaught, but as this disc will do quite a lot, the track comes crashing down to an ethereal Drew’s musing harmonies. It is apparent that Spirit If… is honing straight for the heart from the onset. Drew is like a narrator to a film-noir on the running of the gamut of emotions, the ups and downs of life. He’s there peaking over your shoulder whispering calmly in his effortlessly smooth voice when you are heart broken, he’s pricking the hair on the back of your neck when you wipe the blood away after a fist fight, and he’s there to usher in the true beauty when everything slows down.

You can call Drew an impressionist, or you can acknowledge the fact that he’s just a conscientious observer of the human element. Spirit If.. drips with melodrama, sure, but it works as well as a song like “Lover’s Spit” has for Drew in the past. It’s infused with the very elements of life itself; of hope, of emotion, of rage, of beauty, and of everything in between.

This disc, as life itself, is a succession of events and flashbulbs in a memory that meld themselves together to form an identity. This is an epic album and a giant leap and risk taken by Drew for his first effort. The lyrics are forceful and he pulls no punches using language that could be considered pretty vulgar if, again, it didn’t work. It all works on Spirit If…, though. With the reigns firmly in his hands, Drew delivers certainly one of the more memorable, emotionally slathered albums of the year. This is an album that must be experienced as the sum rather than its parts. Although enumerating highlights is easy – “Lucky Ones” is a churning piece of indie brilliance that just as it is getting really cooking, features a complete instrumental dropout, or the haunting, love-ridden “Frightening Lives” – the whole disc is a much more satisfying experience. Perhaps the strongest statement comes in the last line of Spirit If…. Life is a series of happenings, but the most important thing after its events, and the very element Drew is hanging his hat upon in his first solo album is to “Never forget what you felt.”