Since they debuted in 2014 with the album ‘Half The City’, Alabama’s ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES have built up something of a cult following. Easy to hear why. Their music is hard to pin down… retro soul, for sure, but there’s also funk, country , psychedelia and orchestral elements fused into their unique sound. Thus, the band’s legions of fans will be delighted to learn that the outfit are preparing the release of a new album… ‘Angels In Science Fiction’, due April 21st via Ato Records. (art work above)
In time honoured fashion, the band have just released an album-heralding single, a very gentle, wistful ‘Lonely Love Song’. Singer and bandleader Paul Janeway says, “‘Lonely Love Song’ was actually the first song written for ‘Angels In Science Fiction’ and the template in which we wrote the whole album: simple lyrics with a simple message that cuts to the core. It’s hard to sing without my eyes swelling up with tears. The lyrics flow from denial to fear to the inevitable. Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”.
Sonically, Janeway delivers the lyric with a gentle commitment adding to the song’s folksy flavour. It’s an intriguing hors d’oeuvre for ‘Angels In Science Fiction’. We’re told that the album was written in the span of a few weeks after Janeway learned that his wife was pregnant with their daughter, Marigold. Following the examples set by greats like Aristotle, William James and John Steinbeck, Janeway penned the album as a series of letters to his then-unborn daughter. “A few people told me it would be a good idea to write letters to my yet to be born daughter before she arrived into the world,” says Janeway. “That is what ‘Angels In Science Fiction is. Themes throughout the album are faith, nature vs nurture, anxiety and beauty. This is a record I would have written whether I did this for a living or not. I don’t know if those records come along all the time.” Sounds interesting.
