St. Paul & The Broken Bones Get Interstellar on “Apollo,” First Single from Their New Album Young Sick Camellia

Birmingham, Ala. octet St. Paul & The Broken Bones have announced their third album, Young Sick Camellia, coming this fall, and shared its lead single, the interstellar “Apollo.” Young Sick Camellia, due out on Sept. 7 via RECORDS, comprises nine tracks that Paul Janeway and company laid down alongside R&B/hip-hop/dance producer Jack Splash, who has worked with the likes of Solange, Kendrick Lamar, Diplo, Alicia Keys, Cee Lo Green and Mayer Hawthorne, among others.

“Apollo,” a slinky dance floor magnet that leads with funky guitar strums, spacey atmospherics and a relentless bass line, finds the band moving ever further from the ragged, gospel-infused Southern rock they made their name on, up and out of the pews, and into the cosmos. St. Paul & The Broken Bones’ signature soul—courtesy of Janeway (vocals), Jesse Phillips (bass), Browan Lollar (guitar), Al Gamble (keys), Andrew Lee (drums), Allen Bransetter (trumpet), Chad Fisher (trombone) and Jeronne Ansari (sax)—sounds slicker than ever on the new song, in which Janeway proclaims his love to the heavens, “telling all the stars her name.” “Captain, can you hear me?” he later croons—we sure can, Major Paul.

Young Sick Camellia is said to be an album of introspection, one that finds Janeway at his most personal as a songwriter—his lyrics address the generational differences at work in his own family dynamic, searching for common ground and pondering tough questions: “How can we love those so dear to us while their thoughts, opinions and experiences are diametrically opposed to our own? How do we understand and relate to each other?” The band’s new record follows 2016’s acclaimed Sea of Noise (one of Paste’s top albums of that year) and their 2014 debut Half The City. Janeway and company will support their forthcoming record on a newly announced fall tour, tickets to which go on sale today, June 27, at noon ET.

Listen to “Apollo” below (or via your streaming service of choice here), along with St. Paul & The Broken Bones’ 2013 Daytrotter Session. You’ll find the band’s fall tour dates further down.

St. Paul & The Broken Bones Tour Dates:

June
27 – Vancouver, BC – Vancouver International Jazz Festival
28 – Victoria, BC – Victoria Jazz Festival

July
04 – Montreal, Quebec @ Festival International De Jazz Montreal
05 – Quebec City, Quebec @ Festival Dété de Québec
06 – Ottawa, Ontario @ Ottawa Bluesfest
08 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Winnipeg Folk Festival
10 – Fargo, N.D. @ Sanctuary Events Center
11 – Apple Valley, Minn. @ Music in the Zoo
12 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Crossroads
15 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Sloss Fest

September
13 – San Antonio, Texas @ Aztec Theatre
14 – Austin, Texas @ WhiskyX Event at Fair Market
15 – Houston, Texas @ House Of Blues
21 – Louisville, Ky. @ Iroquois Amphitheater
22 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Holler On The Hill Festival
28 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Fox Theatre
29 – Black Mountain, N.C. @ Pisgah Brewing
30 – Washington, D.C. @ The Anthem

October
03-04 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Brooklyn Steel
05 – Boston, Mass. @ House Of Blues
07 – Toronto, Ontario @ Danforth Music Hall
10 – Chicago, Ill. @ Riviera Theatre
12 – Boulder, Colo. @ Boulder Theater
13 – Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre
16 – Seattle, Wash. @ Moore Theatre
17 – Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom
19 – Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theater
20 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern
21 – Santa Barbara, Calif. @ The Arlington Theatre