Album Details

• Artist: Joel Plaskett
• Album: Three
• Label: MapleMusic
• Year of Release: 2009
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: MusicCritic on 2009-04-11

Media

They say good things come in threes. Or is it tragedies that happen in threes? In the case of Three, the most recent release from Haligonian singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett, the former is more accurate. This three disc release returns to the more stripped down sound of Plaskett’s previous solo work. Those looking for the edgy rock of the Joel Plaskett Emergency may be in for a surprise – albeit, a pleasant one.

Three is a reflection of the obsessive compulsive portion of Plaskett’s personality and will leave even mathematicians’ heads spinning. Each of the three discs contain nine songs, many with titles such as “Through & Through & Through,” “Pine, Pine, Pine,” “Wait, Wait, Wait” and so on. There are numerous lyrical references to the number three throughout and the album, which was released on 24/03/09 (all divisible by 3), not to mention that it’s the third solo release from Plaskett (to go along with three releases with the Emergency). Okay, so maybe it won’t leave a mathematician’s head spinning, but it would certainly confuse someone in say, grade… three.

Each of the three discs is, to some extent, unique in content and sound. The first contains songs with a yearning to leave. ‘Drifters Raus’ (one of the minority of song titles not in triplicate) has Plaskett proclaiming it’s time to “Get outta town, get outta town / This town’s sick of me hanging around,” while others such as “Gone, Gone Gone” and “Run, Run, Run” further the theme of going.

Disc two is more folksy than the pop-rock of its predecessor and throughout Plaskett seems to be lamenting his decision to leave. The songs are lonely and seem to look back nostalgically at some real or imagined past.

In disc three, Plaskett seems to have returned home only to discover things aren’t necessarily how he remembered them. Finding a balance between the folk and pop-rock, the third installment closes with the 12-minute “On & On & On” where Plaskett asks, “Is it uncommon to have nothing in common with friends from high school?”

With Three, Plaskett succeeds in creating an album that can be broken into its individual parts or consumed as a whole. There is surprisingly little filler throughout the 27 tracks and listening to the whole thing in sequence is very doable, clocking in at just under an hour and 45 minutes. Though Plaskett seems to have trouble throughout Three finding his place, fans should be able to find a place for Three in their record collection.

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Tyler Wolfe

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