44 (album)

44 is the sixth solo album by Canadian indie rock musician Joel Plaskett, released on April 17, 2020.[1] Dubbed the "spiritual successor"[2] 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.[3]) Plaskett recorded the album across Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Memphis, Nashville and Toronto, having worked with 33 other musicians over four years.[1]

44
Studio album by
Joel Plaskett
ReleasedApril 17, 2020
RecordedDartmouth, Memphis, Nashville and Toronto
StudioScotland Yard, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Memphis Magnetic Recording, Memphis
GenreIndie rock
Rock
Folk rock
Folk
Length158 minutes
LabelPheromone Recordings
Joel Plaskett chronology
Solidarity
(2017)		 44
(2020)

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.[1]

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.[3][4][5]

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.[4][6]

Critical reception

A hometown review in Halifax's Chronicle Herald summed up the album as, "autobiographical, philosophical, psychoanalytical and spiritual."[4] 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."[7] One critic described the title single from the third record, If There's Another Road as "comfort food."[2] 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."[5] 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."[3]

The album was longlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joel Plaskett, except where noted

41: Carried Away
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Collusion"  
2."Highland Heart"  
3."Complicated Love"  
4."Memory Complete Me"  
5."Beholden"  
6."Head over Heels into Heaven"Joel Plaskett & Mo Kenney 
7."The Song About the Midway"Joni Mitchell 
8."Carried Away"  
9."Matthew Grimson Songs"Plaskett & Matthew Grimson 
10."The Right Direction"Joel Plaskett, Bill Plaskett & Lynn Jones 
11."Spinning Out"  
42: Just Passing Through
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Just Passing Through"  
2."Hey Stu!"  
3."The Wizard of Taz"  
4."Tim"  
5."Brand New & Brokenhearted"  
6."Spray Tan"  
7."Action, Camera, Lights"  
8."So Many Words"  
9."Lonely Limbo"  
10."Blowing a Kiss"  
11."Catch 22"Joel Plaskett, Doug Easley & Dave Shouse 
43: If There's Another Road
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Renegade"  
2."Disappear Me"  
3."At My Door"  
4."If There's Another Road"  
5."Charade"  
6."Kingfisher"  
7."Dxx"  
8."I Lost It"Lucinda Gayle Williams 
9."Just Because"  
10."Fall Guy"  
11."Ps & Qs"  
44: The Window Inn
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Window Inn"  
2."West Cork Blended Irish Whiskey"  
3."It All Reappears"Joel Plaskett & Mo Kenney 
4."Strange to Be Involved"Robert Benvie 
5."The Bottom"Dennis Ellsworth 
6."Is This Actually On"  
7."Melt the Universe with Brotherly Love"  
8."Rock Paper Scissors Meteor"Joel Plaskett, Xianing Plaskett, Dave Shouse & Doug Easley 
9."Flaming Star"Sherman Edwards 
10."There's More Out There in Here"  
11."A Benefit 4 Dreamland"  
45-rpm seven-inch bonus single (LP box set)
No.TitleLength
1."Curtain Call at the Polish Hall" 

References
  1. Thiessen, Brock (January 24, 2020). Joel Plaskett Unveils Quadruple Album '44'Exclaim!. Retrieved on 2020-04-25.
  2. White, Adam (March 22, 2020). Make A Sound'Some Party. Retrieved on 2020-04-25.
  3. O'Kane, Josh (April 21, 2020). The audacity, and necessity, of Joel Plaskett’s pandemic quadruple-recordThe Globe and Mail. Retrieved on 2020-04-25.
  4. 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.
  5. Boer, Sam (April 15, 2020). Joel Plaskett's Quadruple Album '44' Is an Impressive Retrospective of His Life and WorkExclaim!. Retrieved on 2020-04-25.
  6. "Live". Joel Plaskett. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  7. Sterdan, Darryl. (April 17, 2020). Joel Plaskett 44Tinnitist. Retrieved on 2020-04-26.
  8. Lau, Melody (June 15, 2020). "Daniel Caesar, Jessie Reyez, Caribou and more make the 2020 Polaris Music Prize long list". CBC Music.
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