Alabaster DePlume

𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧, 𝙨𝙖𝙭𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙩 𝘼𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙚𝙋𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙣 '𝘼 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙚...', 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙩, 𝙨𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙩𝙮, 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙡-𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙙, 𝙟𝙖𝙯𝙯𝙮 𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.

For an album with such heavy subject matter, 'A Blade...' is remarkably airy. DePlume makes what he regards as healing music, and takes aim at a world riddled with problems. If he wanted to tell us all how precious we were on 2022's 'GOLD', this time he reinforces that statement with further reflection, diving deep into the concepts of dignity, survival and self-determination. Inspired by Vietnamese monk and activist Thích Nhất Hạnh, he tells us to listen to our own suffering on 'Thank You My Pain', surrounding his loose, half-sung thoughts with breathy horns and Donna Thompson's faded drums. 'Invincibility' meanwhile sounds like feathery chamber folk - think Belle and Sebastian - with carefully placed choral segments widening the aspect ratio significantly.

It's clear that DePlume approached 'A Blade...' with a different mindset. 'GOLD' was assembled from lengthy improvised sessions, while he devised this one on his own, bringing the arrangements to his core team of collaborators. And it's lavish stuff, from the cinematic, slo-mo soul of 'Form a V' - that sounds as if it could have been snipped from a vintage Blaxploitation soundtrack - to the moving horn-led centerpiece 'Prayer For My Sovereign Dignity' that blooms into hopeful euphoria with soaring strings (arranged by Momoko Gill) and piano from John Ellis.