Joel Plaskett - Three

Artist: Joel Plaskett

Album: Three

Label: Maple Music Recordings

After releasing the ambitious indie narrative Ashtray Rock in 2007, Canadian indie-folk favourite Joel Plaskett returns in 2009 with an even more ambitious project. His new album, or should I say albums, is a triple disc release appropriately titled “Three.” Not unexpectedly three is the reoccurring theme that binds the album together. Song names, lyrics, and even track numbers all somehow relate back to multiples of “three.” Some song names, like “Wait, Wait, Wait” and “Shine On, Shine On, Shine, On” involve words or phrases repeated three times, while songs themselves reference common concepts like how “good things come in threes,” or references to turning thirty-three years old. Taking it further, each disc intentionally consists of nine songs.  It’s an interesting theme with an unclear, yet intriguing purpose.

But the most pressing question for a release of this magnitude is one of quality vs quantity. How much Plaskett can one man take?  And how much originality can Plaskett muster into 27 songs?  As I soon found out, quite a bit on both accounts. Each disc has its own distinct personality, and because the first two discs barely push thirty minutes, the distinctions provide just enough variety for keeping things fresh.

The first disc has an undeniably classic Plaskett sound. Like in his other solo outings, such as La De Da and Truthfully Truthfully, Plaskett lets his folk roots guide him. For the first disc he sounds like a folkier version of pre-Changing Horses era Ben Kweller, but with his usual Neutral Milk Hotel-esque vocals. Plaskett draws upon a variety of instruments and influences as well. Sing along acoustic tracks like “Through & Through & Through” and “Pine, Pine, Pine” feature catchy instrumental flourishes, including short horn bursts and thoughtful violin strokes respectively. But even with the instrumental variety, the first disc defines itself with an ever-present country twang. It’s not overpowering, but the country overtone unquestionably determines the disc’s overall effect, and likely one’s appreciation of Three’s first component.

For the next disc, Plaskett slows things down. The songs have a calm reserved nature, and that country twang has been replaced by a sleepy smoothness. While many of the same instruments stick around for disc two, most notably the violin, they now hold different purposes. The once jovial violin now produces long sorrow-filled strokes, and Plaskett now strums his guitar with reserve. New instruments like the piccolo surface early in the disc, producing a multidimensional, low-key atmosphere. There is also an overarching east coast maritime feel to the disc. Specifically, “Sailor’s Eyes” has a Nova Scotian feel that wouldn’t sound out or place in an album by the region's Tom Fun Orchestra. As a whole, the second disc provides just enough inter-album variation to help listeners through part two.

Just when I was starting tiring of the slow, reserved Plaskett, the third disc began, which through an extended intro, reintroduces the listener to that up-beat, folky twang. In terms of tempo, the third disc strikes a nice balance between the first disc’s poppy delivery, and the second disc’s thoughtful pace. However, the third disk also feels like the least remarkable of the trio, which probably has more to do with its first track starting 18 tracks into this marathon release than a true decline in musicianship. Plaskett concludes the disc with the twelve-minute marathon, “On and On and On,” which in keeping with Three’s theme, has three distinct parts. Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of this song. On the one hand, the song is quite competent, and for all its repetition never really gets old. But at the same time Plaskett really tests his audience – and it’s borderline insulting, and certainly self-indulgent, that Plaskett assumes his audience will sit through a three minute loop of him singing “it goes on and on, on and on, on and on.”

Lyrically, there aren’t any clear themes outside of integrating “three” into every conceivable context. Generally though, the lyrics on the first disc match its jovial, upbeat tempo, and the lyrical content of the second disc correspond with the sorrow-filled atmosphere. Because emotions are tied to the first two discs' moody styles, the integration of the two for the third disc makes it feel like a reconciliation piece.  It's simple and effective, and works because of its subtle execution.

Overall, Plaskett has crafted one of the few triple disc releases that pleases from start to finish.  Even the rather trying twelve minute conclusion fails to detract from enjoying the thematic ninety minute journey that is Three.