St. Paul & The Broken Bones is a whirling eight-piece soul band from the United States. At the helm of this band is Paul Janeway. As a child, he grew up in the gospel churches of Alabama. In 2012, Janeway thought ‘now I’m going to do it myself’ and formed a band. He did this together with bassist Jesse Phillips. Both men had tried to make a name for themselves in the music industry before, without success. As Phillips and Janeway’s project progressed and musicians joined in, the band began to take shape. Eventually they approached eight musicians and started writing music. Their first EP came out in 2013. Greetings From St.Paul & The Broken Bones from. On this EP you can clearly hear that they lean on gospel music mixed with rock and R&B. The name St. Paul & The Broken Bones started singing around in Alabama after this EP and a record deal was signed. The blistering soul music was very much appreciated and not much later they released their debut album Half The City from. The album was extremely well received by the press and was published in several leading magazines. The Rolling Stones also noticed this, who took the band as support act. Two more critically acclaimed albums followed (Sea Of Noise in Young Sick Camellia) on which the eight showed themselves from a new side every time. Also on fourth album The Alien Coast surprises and varies the band.
The world is not going well, if you ask St. Paul & The Broken Bones. In fact, they are convinced that we are on the brink of destruction. And they’re not really happy about that. Janeway points to the thin line between waking and dreaming, thus explaining the concept of the album: ‘This album comes from the idea of falling asleep in a hotel, having a series of nightmares and waking up delirious. A bad trip in incoherent, traumatic times.’
From the opening track “3000 AD Mass” they sound angry. The album opens with simple, yet gloomy hammond notes. Janeway trembles as he prays to an uninterested god. Fifteen seconds later things change: pensive and ominous. The pleading gives way to growling demands to feel something of love in this time. The sounds of the hammond go from pleading to raw and are complemented by a fuzzy guitar.
After the short but intense “3000 AD Mass” we arrive at “Bermejo and the Devil”. With a menacing beat and whispers just below the rhythmic surface, we get ready for a song about the darkness of man. The second track of the album is inspired by a painting by the Spanish painter Bartolomé Bermejo. Janeway was impressed by the fifteenth-century work. The painting is a beautiful piece of art about the triumph of good over evil. A knight can be seen taking on a monkfish with poisonous snakes for arms. With “Bermejo and The Devil” the first step is taken in that terrible bad trip that Janeway describes. The vocals make it sound hopeful, but the hissing whispers make the song get under your skin.
There is not really time to catch our breath, because we immediately dive into another dream. A brooding bassline holds us in this nightmare. This time, Janeway was inspired by the art of Pablo Picasso. In Picasso’s works, the minotaur, a mythical creature that feeds on human flesh, is a frequent feature. “Minotaur” is a sweaty song about having trauma and its lasting impact. The strength of Janeway is really his vocals and in “Minotaur” this really comes into its own. Between “Minotaur” and “The Last Dance” is “Atlas”. A small instrumental interlude that is reminiscent of a video game soundtrack. But after “Atlas” room has been made for a piece of hope in the form of “The Last Dance”. With a catchy bass rhythm that even leans a bit towards ’70s disco, Janeway urges you to drop everything and go wild on a song that won’t make you cry. The song invites us to dance in an apocalyptic world. “The Last Dance” is right in the middle of the album and is perhaps also the highlight of this special piece of music.
Fortunately, the journey is far from over. In the last part of the album, St. Paul & The Broken Bones mainly searches for human connection. On the title track the band reaches a climax and you can hear the full power of The Broken Bones. You can clearly see signs of the experimental phase the band is in here. From start to finish is The Alien Coast an unparalleled experience. Still, St. Paul & The Broken Bones tries to close the album well by taking you to love and longing for it. On “Popcorn Ceiling” you feel the pain of an unrequited love and on “Love Letter From a Red Roof Inn” the spell of the nightmares is broken by an intense longing for love, the anchor in the nightmarish seas. Both songs are closer to the older soulful work of St. Paul & The Broken Bones. When Janeway complains in the closing song that he’s just a fool, you can hear hope in his voice.
The range of influences of The Alien Coast we’ve never heard of a band like St. Paul & The Broken Bones before, but that they work is a certainty. Whether they are welcome is another question. The secret longing for the uplifting soul sound remains after listening to The Alien Coast.
