Political. Personal. Poetic. Such is the new album Reckon from one of Canada’s most renowned songwriters, Jason Collett. Recorded at Revolution Recording Studios in Toronto, the album was produced by Howie Beck and includes guest appearances by Bahamas, Basia Bulat, Kevin Drew & Zeus. An 11-song retrospective titled Essential Cuts will be released as a companion to Reckon via Arts & Crafts on September 25th. Chosen by Jason himself, “Essential Cuts” represent the sense of community that he has always held in such high regard.

To celebrate the release of Reckon, Jason has unveiled a video for lead track “I Wanna Rob A Bank,” directed by Corey Ogilvie, it premiered today via Huffington Post. Fans can also enjoy a free download of the track via SoundCloud, here.

There is a poetic serendipity to the fact that Jason Collett started recording Reckon during the same month that Occupy Wall Street began. Not necessarily setting out to make a record with these overtones, his travels and political engagements lead to the subject matter being unavoidable. “The consistent thread throughout this record is loss,” he explains. “The love songs are largely emotive reflections of the ‘political’ songs. All written through the distillation of events since the economic calamity of 2008 and it’s insidiously long looming shadow. I’ve seen first hand the kind of devastation this crisis has wrecked upon much of the world I’ve toured these last few years. The shut-down-shops and for-closed homes on the suburban fringes as I’ve made my way to and from cities I’ve played. This record is a personal reflection of the crisis we’ve all witnessed and read about every day in the paper. Calling it Reckon is an acknowledgement of loss … lost jobs, lost homes, loss of faith in our political and financial institutions and in turn, loss of illusion.”

The Essential Cuts album is more or less a family affair featuring everyone from Amy Millan (Stars), Zeus, Feist, Emily Haines (Metric), Bahamas and more as well as production from long time friends Andrew Cash & Howie Beck. Collett reflects, “With a little help from my friends indeed … There is a revolving door cast of characters that make this a sweet selection of the back catalogue. The myriad of producers and players that have graced these recordings are a testament to the blessed incestuousness of the musical family I’m lucky to be part of.”

Reckon Tracklist
1. Pacific Blue
2. Jasper Johns Flag
3. King James Rag
4. Sailor Boy
5. Ask No Questions
6. You’re Not The One And Only Lonely One
7. Miss Canada
8. Talk Radio
9. I Wanna Rob A Bank
10. Where Things Go Wrong
11. Song Of The Silver Haired Hippie
12. Black Diamond Girl
13. My Daddy Was A RocknRoller
14. Don’t Let The Truth Get To You
15. When The War Came Home
16. Digiturk

Essential Cuts Tracklist
1. Bitter Beauty
2. Blue Sky
3. We All Lose One Another
4. Hangover Days
5. I’ll Bring The Sun
6. No Redemption Song
7. Angel Of Kensington
8. Brother
9. Long May You Love
10. Love is a Dirty Word
11. Every Night
12. Saç Ekimi

Building on a tradition now five years strong, Jason Collett will once again curate the Basement Revue series, Tuesdays this December in the intimate underground confines of Toronto’s Dakota Tavern.

This year, like in others, Collett will present an impressive collection of musicians, songwriters, authors, poets, storytellers and friends.

And, as has become tradition, each night’s performers will remain a surprise to the audience until the night of, adding to the inherent and infectious spontaneity of each show.

Former guests and performers include Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, James Shaw of Metric, Hayden, Bryan Webb (Constantines), Buck 65, K-OS, Al Tuck, Lullabye Arkestra, Doug Paisley, Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), John K. Sampson (Weakerthans), Charles Spearin’s The Happiness Project, Luke Doucet, Julie Doiron, Melissa McClelland, The Abrams Brothers, Todor Kobakov, celebrity chef Michael P. Clive and poets Damien Rogers, Ken Babstock and Kevin Connolly.

Seventy-five tickets will be available in advance of each night – 25 each at Rotate This and Soundscapes – and 25 available via GalleryAC.com.

Tickets are $25. Doors each night will be at 8:30, with shows starting around 9:30.

Who will appear this year? You’ll have to go to find out, but there’s a pretty good chance you’ll recognize a few of the names and faces. And with 2011 marking the five-year anniversary of the annual run, you can bet Collett and company will find away to make these shows even more memorable.

Jason Collett has announced three more Ontario dates for this November, including what promises to be an intimate and very memorable evening at Toronto's Music Gallery on November 11.

Also included are stops in Waterloo and Guelph. These shows mark some of Jason's first Canadian performances in 2011, so be sure to purchase your tickets early. Tickets for the Toronto show are available directly from GalleryAC.com.

Jason Collett Fall Tour

09/30 Wakefield, ON / Black Sheep
10/01 Kingston, ON / Grad Club
10/15 Sarnia, ON / Paddy Flaherty's
10/16 London, ON / Aeolian Hall
10/20 St. Catharines, ON / Mansion House
10/21 Meaford, ON / Irish Mountain Music
11/01 Hamilton, ON / Casbah
11/02 Waterloo, ON / Starlight
11/03 Guelph, ON / E-Bar
11/10 Collingwood, ON / Casbah
11/11 Toronto, ON / Music Gallery