Eight-member band St. Paul and The Damaged Bones is thought for its raucous soul music. Its newest album “Angels and Science Fiction” is refined, reflective, and the closest the Birmingham-based band will get to people music.

Paige Sara/Sacks & Co.

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Paige Sara/Sacks & Co.

Eight-member band St. Paul and The Damaged Bones is thought for its raucous soul music. Its newest album “Angels and Science Fiction” is refined, reflective, and the closest the Birmingham-based band will get to people music.

Paige Sara/Sacks & Co.

Paul Janeway, the entrance man for the Birmingham-based band St. Paul and The Damaged Bones, grew up dreaming of turning into a preacher.

And watching the singer-songwriter carry out reside now could be nearly like being in church.

“It is like much more accepting church, and loving church,” says Janeway, who grew up in a rural Alabama city the place church was the epicenter. “And much more cursing.”

Janeway wrote among the songs for the band’s new album, Angels in Science Fiction, after he discovered he was going to develop into a father through the pandemic.

The music is extra refined and reflective than the raucous soul the 8-piece band has been identified for because it was based in 2011. Janeway says it is the closest they’ll get to a people report. It even contains one thing Janeway had by no means written earlier than, a love track.

He defined how he lastly wrote one and the way the album got here to be in an interview with NPR’s Morning Version. These highlights have been edited for readability.

Why it took so lengthy to put in writing a love track

“I did not develop up with probably the most loving and caring [home]. It was a fairly poisonous setting so far as my household life went.

And when one thing dangerous would occur between my mother and pop, my mother would play piano and that was how I grew up with my relationship with music.

So my thought of writing a love track was all the time it simply did not appear pure as a result of my connection [to] it was all the time retreat, letting go of your demons in a approach. So it was exhausting for me to put in writing pleased stuff simply due to my relationship with music. And in order that’s why getting to put in writing ‘Lonely Love Music’ felt particular.”

Title observe “Angels and Science Fiction” is a message for his daughter

“I believe I would like her to clearly discover peace. You already know, once I was younger, I used to be introduced up in church and [it] simply sort of was instilled into me. After which as I grew older and disagreed with a number of the issues the church believed, I grew a number of venom.

It is simply humorous. I take into consideration this on a regular basis — how totally different she’s going to develop up than me as a result of I have not been notably spiritual. However you undergo these issues the place you are like, ‘okay, am I going to deliver her? Am I going to start out going to church?’ You need her to be instilled with morals.

However I believe finally whether it is one thing that brings her peace, then I hope she finds no matter that’s for her.”

“Sea Star” displays on fatherhood and new which means

“I believe any time these sorts of issues occur, the whole lot has a bit of extra weight to it.

That line comes from a narrative {that a} preacher informed one time, the place there is a bunch of starfish on the shore and a man was throwing separately, and there are millions of them. And the man walks as much as him goes, ‘Why are you doing that? Like, you are not going to get all these starfish off the shore.’ And he picks one up and throws it and says, ‘Effectively, I made a distinction for that one.’ Picked one other one up, mentioned, ‘I made a distinction for that one.’

Typically our issues on the earth appear so like you’ll be able to’t repair it, you’ll be able to’t do something, and also you simply acquired to assist the individuals which are by you and close to you and make a distinction. Attempt to make a distinction for one particular person at a time. For me, I’m a starfish in that state of affairs and he or she is the one who has introduced a brand new life, a brand new which means.”

A haunted feeling in Memphis

“We recorded in Sam Phillips Studios in Memphis. We’re fairly positive {that a} ghost opened a door through the session. A door slammed that ought to not have been slamming. That place is haunted, I am telling y’all. It is a bit spooky.

You sort of really feel like there’s some type of presence there and also you’re sort of going by that and perhaps it reveals one thing inside you. And I believe for me, as a result of it was throughout 2020, we additionally stored the our bodies restricted within the room. And so I believe what helped with that’s that it gave it that sparseness. It felt very intimate.

There’s one track, the opening track, ‘Chelsea’ on the report [with] our drummer Kevin on piano, and me and him had to take a look at one another for the timing. There was a second in that track the place you are taking your final breath of the track and we each have tears working down our eyes, taking a look at one another, like, ‘Wow!’

And also you had a number of moments like that all through the report as a result of it was simply you and another person, which is a extremely, actually fascinating expertise.”

The audio interview was edited by Reena Advani and produced by Chad Campbell. The digital story was edited by Lisa Lambert.