I don’t pretend to be anything but a humble rocker but on the other hand when something that doesn’t necessarily fit into that very broad category comes to my attention I’ll still have a listen and if I think some of you out there might appreciate it and it’s good enough I’ll often dash off review. With St. Paul and the Broken Bones though we do have a bit of form having reviewed their last album and their performance at last years’ Bluesfest in Byron Bay.
‘Convex’ that opens this new album is a great soulful burst of Rhythm and Blues, quite laid back, shot though with some nice horns but essentially a great song no matter hoe you cut it, and here there are plenty of gems.Of course this isn’t for everyone and whilst I might quite like the funk of ‘Gotitbad’ it might not be for everyone.
Elsewhere there’s plenty to catch your ear: from the languid and loose soulful glide of ‘NASA’; through the classy, sassy Rhythm and Blues of ‘Apollo’ which could make a dead man dance; or the joyful clatter and musings of ‘Mr. Invisible’, the emotional delicate journey that ‘Hurricanes’ takes you on, or disco of ‘Got It Bad’ all the way to the last note of the remix of ‘Apollo’ that closes things here.
My favourite moments though might just be the soaring trippy guitar-driven ballad ‘Concave’ that rubs up alongside the emotional flurry of the piano-led ‘Bruised Fruit’ right at the end. It leaves you wanting to hear it all again.
As well as the Rhythm and Blues, Soul and Funk there’s a certain Southern slant at play here too and whilst that might not mean really rocking out or layering on the Blues, it does show its head in places and also in the album title – the camellia being Alabama’s State flower. This album is different though eschewing the Hammond organ that used to make their work so comforting they’ve lost some of their earthy appeal for the sake of trying to be different and push the boundaries. It works to a point but as vocalist and main man Paul Janeway says “I still do think we consider ourselves an R&B band fundamentally. It’s just how far can we push it in any given direction while still sounding like ourselves and not going too far off the deep end?”
Of the 14 listed tracks here there are a couple of short ‘interludes’ in ‘Cumulus Pt.1’, ‘Mature Pt.2’, ‘Dissipating Pt.3’ and ‘Cave Flora Pt.1’ as well as a radio edit of ‘Apollo’ so what you’re left with is a focused collection of 9 tracks. This isn’t the soulful rhythm and blues of the bands debut but its still a damned fine collection of songs and the stark contrast between the oftentimes dark lyrical content and the foot-tapping nature of the tunes is a real nice twist.