Nova Scotian Joel Plaskett has a silly number of music awards as one of Canada’s best songwriters. This new release has Plaskett selecting thirteen tracks from the original North American, triple disc release, Three. Don’t think you’re getting ripped off, though, as these tracks truly are the best of the bunch. With eighteen years of music making behind him, Tree To One is Plaskett’s most ambitious work to date and features a first-rate line up of guests including his father Bill Plaskett, fellow Canadian singer/songwriter Rose Cousins and Joel’s band The Emergency. From start to finish Three To One is indie rock at it’s best. From ‘Deny, Deny, Deny,’ with it’s buoyant beats Celtic inspired violins, thumping horns on ‘Through & Through & Through,’ the gritty riffs of ‘Run, Run, Run’ through to the romantic, east coast folk-themed ‘Sailors Eyes’, Three To One is only once chapter of the Three story, but it is story that is exquisite, genre-defining and one that should be listened by all.
by Lauren Keogh