St. Paul & The Broken Bones Mix Synths, Samples Into Fourth Album, ‘The Alien Coast’
By Taylor Mims
Band also dropped their psychedelic single, “The Last Dance,” on Tuesday (Oct. 5).
St. Paul & The Broken Bones are back with their fourth studio album, The Alien Coast, which stretches their sound with new sonic elements and marks the band’s first time recording in their hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.
According to the band, recording locally gave them the time and space to lay down their most ambitious work yet with producer Matt Ross-Spang, who has also spent studio time with Jason Isbell, Margo Price and the late John Prine. Unlimited hours in the studio gave the quartet – lead by singer and preacher-in-training Paul Janeway – the ability to experiment beyond their soul and gospel background, adding synths, hip-hop beats and samples into their mix.
The psychedelic lead single “The Last Dance” was released on Tuesday (Oct. 5) along with a video directed by Machete Bang Bang and features Euphoria’s Liv Mai. Check out the video below.
“The juxtaposition of dancing while facing certain doom is what ‘Last Dance’ is all about. Like dancing through a Mad Max scene,” said Janeway in a release. “So naturally the video had to be a dance video. It was a pleasure to work with Machete Bang Bang and all the folks involved on this. I hope y’all enjoy.”
The Alien Coast was inspired by a range of Janeway’s influences, including Greek mythology and dystopian sci-fi. “The title actually came from reading about the history of the Gulf of Mexico, which is home for us. When the settlers — or invaders, really — first came to the Gulf Coast they couldn’t figure out what it was, and started referring to it as the Alien Coast. That term really stuck with me, partly because it feels almost apocalyptic,” said Janeway.
The full album will be released on Jan. 28 via ATO records. Another new track, album opener “3000 AD Mass” — teased in an ATO signing announcement last month — was also released in full on Tuesday. Listen to it here.