Although Broken Social Scene hasn't played together in nearly a year, the members haven't exactly been taking it easy. In fact, the band is part of singer Kevin Drew's new solo album, Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew Spirit If ... And while it might be confusing to some fans, Drew's explanation clears the air.

"Everyone else (in the band) who has done solo records, they've wanted to separate themselves from Social Scene," Drew says, sitting on the steps of his Annex-area abode in Toronto. "We (guitarist Brendan Canning and Drew) have no desire to do that but at the same time we don't want to become those people that take over the band with something really beautiful. It just takes the flame away.

"It was just trying to figure out a way of keeping all the work that we've done and everyone else has done, not to take away from their work but not to take away from ours. It sounds like a Social Scene record."

The album, in stores on Sept. 18, definitely has the trademarks of a Broken Social Scene record, beginning with the winding, bombastic opener Farewell to the Pressure Kids to other tracks such as Safety Bricks and Frightening Lives. The record also features appearances by members of Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. and Tom Cochrane. Yes, that Tom Cochrane.

"It's good to say you're friends with these people that are on your record," Drew says of the guests. "I don't want to use names for the sake of names. I could have asked tons of people. I don't know if they would have played on it, but I want to know them more. I mean, if these guys were f---ing a--holes they wouldn't be on my album. They're not."

Of the 14 tracks, Drew has a particular soft spot for Aging Faces/Losing Places because of the number of BSS members singing on it.

"I'm not really singing on it and for me that pushes me more to put it on the record," he says. "But then you hear that Stars album is coming out, it's going to get confusing and people always want to throw curves to confuse you. But I just loved it too much and these are my friends at the end of the day. It's not Tears Are Not Enough, but it's close."

And while the video for Tears Are Not Enough was pretty bland, Drew's video for Backed Out On The ... is nothing of the sort. The video was basically done for the price of a mint condition Subaru Justy ($3,000) and features all three members of Dinosaur Jr.: J. Mascis, Lou Barlow and drummer Murph.

"The video is going to go down on my top three evenings," Drew says. "And that came out of nowhere and the reason that it was so fun was because it was so spontaneous. We decided two days before he (J. Mascis) arrived that we should shoot a video because he's in town. They just came in and had a blast.

"There are some people in the video that I don't even know who they are, but they came through friends. And to be so spontaneous, that can truly amplify having a great time."

Although there's a lone Canadian date slated for Halifax in late September, Drew is planning a Canadian tour for later this fall. A European trek is already confirmed but Drew figures he won't be swimming in money afterward.

"For some reason I've got friends who make a living off of Canada but we'll be like, 'Yeah, we'll go lose some money in Germany,' " he says. "I just don't understand it. Brendan and I, our business sense is ridiculous. We have people buying homes off touring in Canada and we'll do half a Canadian tour."

Drew couldn't wait to drop new CD

When Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning started their solo projects, they originally had planned to release them at the same time.

And while rock history shows that all four members of KISS released their 1978 solo albums on Sept. 18, the same date Drew's Spirit If ... hits stores, the singer wasn't thinking much about Gene Simmons as he was about Big Boi and Andre 3000.

"Brendan and I wanted to do an Outkast thing but his wasn't done in time and I needed this thing out of my life," Drew says. "I couldn't hold back, I couldn't listen to it anymore. It's something you have to move on from and to have that looming in my life again and again I was not into it."

As for Canning's solo album which is being set for release in 2008, Drew says that the record is coming along quite nicely. And it will also be another Broken Social Scene Presents ... format.

"It's sweet and it's endearing and there's a lot of rockers and lots of sweet numbers," he says. "We going to get together in the next month and I think people are going to embrace it the way I hope they embrace this.

"We're not stopping time, we're just making albums and after this record I'm going to make another one.

"We're going Sonic Youth, Spike Lee, Woody Allen, just make them, make them, make them and if you don't, you don't have to."