''44'' is the sixth solo album by Canadian
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
musician
Joel Plaskett
William Joel MacDonald Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of gen ...
, released on April 17, 2020.
[Thiessen, Brock (January 24, 2020)]
Joel Plaskett Unveils Quadruple Album '44'
'Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
''. Retrieved on 2020-04-25. Dubbed the "spiritual successor"
[White, Adam (March 22, 2020)]
Make A Sound'
'Some Party''. Retrieved on 2020-04-25. to Plaskett's prior triple album ''
Three'', the 44-song, quadruple album was released the day before the artist's 45th birthday. (As a tie-in to that fact, the LP box set contains a bonus 45th track.
[O'Kane, Josh (April 21, 2020)]
The audacity, and necessity, of Joel Plaskett’s pandemic quadruple-record
'The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
''. Retrieved on 2020-04-25.) Plaskett recorded the album across
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth ( ) (Scottish Gaelic, Scottish-Gaelic: Baile nan Loch) is a Urban area, built-up community of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has 101 ...
, Memphis, Nashville and Toronto, having worked with 33 other musicians over four years.
Background
Each of the four records in the album contains 11 songs, with their own title and theme. The first record (''41: Carried Away'') is centred around travelling, the second collection (''42: Just Passing Through'') turns to finding a homecoming unfamiliar, the third set (''43: If There's Another Road'') tackles transitioning from lost to found, and the last record (''44: The Window Inn'') deals with arriving at a personal destination.
Collaborators include Plaskett's band the Emergency, as well as his former group from the nineties
Thrush Hermit; members of
Sloan and
Local Rabbits; fellow Maritimer and mentee of Plaskett
Mo Kenney; Dave Shouse of past bands
Grifters and
Those Bastard Souls; Nashville-based Canadians Rob Crowell and Steve Dawson; the vocalist trio Reeny, Mahalia and Micah Smith; East Coast songwriters
Al Tuck,
Rose Cousins, and Erin Costelo; folk singer-songwriters
Charlotte Cornfield and
Ana Egge; and Plaskett's son, Xianing.
The cross-Canada album tour for ''44'' had been scheduled for April–May, 2020 but was pushed back to October–November, 2020 due to the
2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic.
[Cooke, Stephen (April 3, 2020)]
Plaskett unveils box set 44 of new songs stretching from Dartmouth to Nashville
'' Chronicle Herald''. Retrieved on 2020-04-25.
Critical reception
A hometown review in Halifax's ''
Chronicle Herald'' summed up the album as, "autobiographical, philosophical, psychoanalytical and spiritual."
Another review called it a mix of everything, an eclectic collection from a prolific artist full of multitudes: "rock and pop, country and folk, loud and quiet, electric and acoustic, earthy and spacey, sincere and silly, gems and duds, studio and live, full-band productions and lo-fi solo fare."
[Sterdan, Darryl. (April 17, 2020)]
Joel Plaskett 44
'Tinnitist''. Retrieved on 2020-04-26. One critic described the title single from the third record, ''If There's Another Road'' as "comfort food."
The expansive album was said to be a "massive, eclectic" reflection on the depth and breadth of the artist's life journey; "an impressive retrospective."
[Boer, Sam (April 15, 2020)]
Joel Plaskett's Quadruple Album '44' Is an Impressive Retrospective of His Life and Work
'Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
''. Retrieved on 2020-04-25. Also focusing on the reflective nature of the album, a ''
Globe and Mail'' review noted how the album was a labour of love to Plaskett's family and friends, and the years-long effort displayed "the value of slowing down to enjoy the moment."
The album was longlisted for the
2020 Polaris Music Prize
The 2020 edition of the Canada, Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on October 19, 2020. The longlist was announced on June 15, 2020, with the shortlist following on July 15, 2020 and the winner announced on October 19, 2020. Due to the CO ...
.
Track listing
References
External links
Joel Plaskett Unveils 44at joelplaskett.com
Joel Plaskett profileat Pheromone Recordings
{{Authority control
2020 albums
Joel Plaskett albums