The Alien Coast

After debuting their explosive, gospel-tinged retro-soul on 2014s Half the City, St. Paul & the Broken Bones looked to more complex, politically charged inspirations on the follow-up, Sea of Noise. It saw the eight-piece expanding their sound with components like strings, a choir, and synthesizers, and they continued in that vein on 2018s Young Sick Camellia while also looking to musical inspirations from the 70s in addition to the classic soul of the 1960s. They further develop and refine their sound as well as move up the timeline on their fourth long-player and ATO label debut, The Alien Coast, whose songs incorporate psychedelic and stoner rock, glossy synths, and even hip-hop (beatmaker/sampler Randall Turner contributed to the album). A more reflective set of tracks on the whole than the bands prior releases, it took inspiration from history, Greek mythology, and related works of art that stuck with frontman Paul Janeway after a sightseeing excursion in London. "Alien Coast" refers to European colonialists nickname for the Gulf of Mexico. The album opens with rock-injected gospel organ and a fiery Janeway on "3000 AD Mass," an under-90-second prelude. After that track buckles to close as if someone pulled the plug, the James Bond theme-adjacent "Bermejo and the Devil" delves into a steady, drugged-out funk-rock with whispering background voices and lyrics inspired by the painting Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil. That song ends with a Spanish guitar lick undoubtedly in tribute to the titular painter. Robotic vocal effects alienate the otherwise jazzy instrumental jam "Atlas," and St. Paul & the Broken Bones go full-on disco for "The Last Dance," a song about dancing in the face of catastrophe. The mercurial nature of The Alien Coast continues with a handful of more refined tracks as well as "Hunter and His Hounds," which offers a booming, wail-fueled R&B that returns showstopper Janeway to the stratosphere. Elsewhere, on the dreamier side of the spectrum, "Popcorn Ceiling" sinks listeners in between the sofa cushions with spacy synths, heavy echo and guitar sustain, and light, impressionistic drums. While Janeways passionate delivery is missed on the more tepid tracks and the instrumental, the album closes with a virtuosic falsetto performance on the somnambulant "Love Letter from a Red Roof Inn." Taken together, The Alien Coast isnt as fun or as moving as the Broken Bones earliest releases, but their commitment to experimentation and growth is as impressive as their collective technical skill, and in this case, the act of discovery provides its own fascination. ~ Marcy Donelson

アラバマ州バーミングハムの8人組による4枚目のアルバムは、ツアー中のホームシックを題材にしたコンセプト・アルバムだ。長いツアーの間に感じる孤独と不安を、未開の地を訪れた入植者、あるいは宇宙空間を一人で漂う宇宙飛行士の心情として表現しているようだ。全10曲中唯一アップテンポのディスコ・ナンバーのタイトルが"The Last Dance"というところが実に暗示的。60年代風のサザン・ソウルから作品を重ねるごとにストリングスも使いながらメロウに変化してきたサウンドは、ここではサイファイなんて言葉も浮かぶものに。ラストを飾る美しいバラードは彼らの真骨頂と言えるが、前述の曲以外はメランコリックなスロウ・ナンバーばかりというところにバンドの野心を聴き取るべきだろう。
bounce (C)山口智男