Quaint by Numbers
JOEL PLASKETT TAKES A PROVEN CONCEPT TO A NEW PLACE WITH 44
By Andrew King
Joel Plaskett throws out a
preemptive apology partway through
our conversation about his latest album
– or, rather, his latest albums. “This is
the first time I’ve talked about it like this
with anyone outside my circle, so hope-
fully this doesn’t sound like a bunch of
craziness,” he chuckles.
I quickly squash his concern be-
cause, even though we’re on a strange
tangent of numerology and synchro-
nicity that sounds better-suited to a
conspiracy theorist’s blog than a music
magazine, I’m, as the kids say, here for it.
“I’ve always been pretty cerebral in
ways I can intellectualize and interpret
things, but over the last few years, I’ve
44 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
noticed a lot of things happening that
I would once chalk up to coincidence
as now having a sense of purpose,”
muses the acclaimed Maritime-rooted
musician.
That idea manifests itself through-
out 44 – Plaskett’s latest collection of
music split into four distinct albums that
comprise the whole – and I was happy
to join him on a journey down his meta-
phorical rabbit hole to talk about it.
I first met Plaskett about 10 years ago
at his original Scotland Yard studio – a
non-descript shed in a non-descript
backyard in Dartmouth, NS loaded with
instruments and recording gear. I was
writing a story about his ambitious and
acclaimed triple album, Three, and re-
member sitting on the bench in front of
his old upright piano and talking about
all the cool numerical Easter eggs laced
throughout – three discs, nine songs on
each, “Word, Same Word, Same Word”
song titles, a release date in whole and
in part divisible by three…
44, dropping almost exactly 11
years later in April 2020, boasts a similar
archetype, but this time, its maker dives
deeper into the concept with more
dedication and earnestness.
“Three started with just a bunch of
songs and me cracking a joke about it
maybe being a triple record; then I was
like, ‘Wait, that’s what I should do!’”
Plaskett, currently 44, recalls about his