For me, the new self-titled album from St. Paul and The Broken Bones is a welcome return to form for this group out of Birmingham, Ala. Their previous two long-players found the band in an experimental mood, stretching out to expand their Southern soul sound. The last album, 2023’s Angels In Science Fiction, featured thoughtful, heartfelt songs written by front man Paul Janeway to his then-unborn daughter. That’s laudable, but I thought it made for a rather lackluster listen.
The new St. Paul and The Broken Bones is the band’s sixth album, and the first on their own label, Oasis Pizza Records. That level of control might have something to do with the sense of renewal that comes across over the course of these 10 songs.
First up is “Sushi and Coca-Cola,” a catchy single that makes good use of the band’s horn section (and it's one we've been playing in heavy rotation the past few months here at Studio One). The horn section is prominent throughout the record, along with a variety of musical touches that keep things interesting.
On “Ooo-Wee,” a soulful female chorus comes in to add more drama to an already dramatic narrative, and on “Stars Above,” the song fades out on an electric sitar solo, like it was suddenly 1968 in the studio!
The seven musicians in the band are solid, but it’s the passionate vocal delivery of Janeway that holds our attention. To my ears, Janeway’s most powerful vocal on the album is during “Change A Life,” which has seemingly autobiographical lyrics having to do with emotional turmoil and life’s complications. It takes place partly in a Burger King, just as earlier in the album, the setting was a Dairy Queen!
The songs on the record are credited to Janeway and the other band members, but I assume the lyrics he sings to such great effect are mainly his own words. He’s got that classic Southern soul delivery down, and enunciation is not needed for greatness. On “I Think You Should Know,” I was sure that he was singing “my knees are underwater now,” and only later read the lyrics to find that it was actually “I’m easing underwater now.” Either way, it works!
St. Paul and The Broken Bones breaks no new ground, but the record is a satisfying, soulful listen.
