As K.D.A.P., Toronto indie rock outfit Broken Social Scene frontman Kevin Drew circumvents the constraints of playing in a band for his first solo album, Influences. At first glance, the compositions might seem like departures from the music he’s made with BSS, but it’s far from the first time Drew has experimented with instrumental music. Take for instance “Capture The Flag,” the hazy opening act of You Forgot It In People (2003) or “Finish Your Collapse And Stay For Breakfast” from the band’s 2005 self-titled album.

The new eight-track collection builds on the idea that good things take time. It only took Kevin Drew two decades to fully tap into recollections of the ambient music of his adolescence and early 20s, citing Brian Eno, Four Tet and Mouse On Mars as inspiration.

The 1990s folktronica meets Drew’s post-rock experience head-on with a propensity for the grandiose that’s reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens’ instrumental foray earlier this year with Convocations. In fact, both artists benefit from a bird’s-eye view of the musical soundscapes that influence them, allowing them to combine disparate patches of sound for maximal effect.

The tracks on Influences ripple through hurried and soothing soundscapes alike, free from traditional song structures and expectations. They suggest beauty in ephemerality and categorically refuse the subjugation to instant gratification. Case in point, the simmering lead single and opener “The Slinfold Loop,” which builds up toward something seemingly grander than its premise before upending expectations and immediately evaporating in the ether. The satisfaction of a clear-cut tipping point is bypassed in favor of a delicate deflating movement: the journey upward is sufficient to sustain excitement throughout.

The flip side is that some of the album’s offerings lead the listener onto bridges to nowhere. The conversational “Dooms Dive” barely contains its synthesized instruments, talking over one another and burying the percussion at first before incorporating it fully into the instrumental bonfire chat. By the time the track runs its course, it somehow all feels inconclusive, as if the music itself had run out of breath and decided to put the matter to rest for the time being. 

The freewheeling structure, or lack thereof, reflects the value of freedom in a time where it feels like a dire resource. Drew initially wrote most compositions during his daily lockdown walks in Southern England last summer—and the associated need for rejuvenation of that time is palpable throughout. Trepidation permeates much of the album, most notably on “Hopefully Something,” which features a restless beat and agitated bass line. 

The track further embodies the dilemma the listener is confronted with on Influences. The album wavers between atmospheric moments and more demanding ones: the music zooms in and out of focal points, playing a head-turning game of peek-a-boo from which there is little reprieve. 

The more engaging pieces are the heart of the album, where Kevin Drew sustains interest with contrast and variation, compressing a wide range of emotions into relatively short periods of time. “The Slinfold Loop,” which builds in increments and swells into a magnificent whole, is remarkable on all accounts. “Wilner’s Parade” boasts more left-field melodic choices with exponential contrasts in volume and instrumentation. It’s a chaotic redo of M83’s career highlights, mixing that in with the rock-leaning influences, becoming a delightfully disorienting experience. The track takes us on a proper journey, making listeners feel like they’re desperately looking for something before coming to the realization that the thing they were searching for was with them all along.

“Explosive Lip Balm” basks in a similar sort of euphoria, initially overzealous and joyous beyond measure before channeling that excitement into quiet contentment. Its conclusion might sound menacing or out of context, but tied into the rest of the track its meditative contemplation is almost therapeutic. The song demonstrates that behind the free-flowing experimentation lies inspiration. Nothing more, nothing less than a decades-long happenstance in the making.

Follow writer Red Dziri at Twitter.com/red_dziri.