Alabaster DePlume Shares Surreal & Heartbreaking Video for New Single "Invincibility" // New Album 'A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole' out March 7
(( photo by Alexander Massek ))
“Invincibility”
Today, Alabaster DePlume — the acclaimed London-based saxophonist, singer, songwriter, activist, orator, and poet-philosopher — shares "Invincibility," the latest single from A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, his daring new album out March 7, 2025.
“Invincibility" is an ode to self-respect that feels a bit like a choir of angels led by a trickster, a group contemplating: how do we live with the forces that seek to destroy us? The whole song feels like a heavy exhale, or like the feeling of reaching the surface after a long while underwater.
“If I meet with my feelings, they cannot destroy me,” Alabaster told writer Liz Pelly, for her essay on the upcoming album. “When I allow myself to embody them, physically, then I live through that feeling and I meet with it and I make peace with it and I find that my feeling is me, and I welcome it. It is a sense that I cannot be destroyed by my feeling. I am invincible.”
In the video for "Invincibility," filmmaker Niall Trask creates a surreal world in which DePlume is a family’s beloved dog who accidentally meets his maker.
Of the video, Niall Trask said: “Alabaster was one of the first people I met when I moved down to London; a collaboration has been a long time coming. He gave me total freedom to write on one of three tracks, and I returned his trust by choosing to euthanise him to the score of ‘Invincibility.’ On a personal level, there has been a fair share of tragedy in recent years, and finding the absurdity/humour in it all is always my go-to remedy. The treatment was ambitious, and I’m grateful to everyone who helped bring this to life (whilst putting a dog to sleep). I really tried my best to visually punctuate the sounds of a special soul!”
(( photo by Alexander Massek ))
...about...
A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole
In the eleven songs of A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, DePlume’s reflections on healing, dignity, and struggle are communicated through a stirring assemblage of disparate musics: ghostly and ancient folk melodies, groove-anchored maelstroms of swirling folk-jazz, elegant string arrangements that strike a midpoint between Ravel and Gainsbourg (courtesy of Macie Stewart), disembodied voices reconfiguring into the shape of a post-modern Greek chorus, noir atmosphere, and allegoric, troubadouric song.
Throughout, Alabaster’s intimate, confessional croon (a la Donovan or Devendra Banhart) and vibrato-laced tenor saxophone playing (a la Getatchew Mekurya) convey, with a startling humanistic touch, everything from dejected fragility to resolute strength.
As with all of DePlume’s work, A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole is driven by intention. In this case, a desire to interrogate the concept of healing. As DePlume shared with album essayist Pelly: “When I meet people who love my work I ask them, ‘what do people need?’ Many of them were answering ‘healing’, so I worked on that, first of all by healing myself. I found that it was an activity I could choose, and that it had a lot to do with my ownership of myself, dignity and independence. Instead of waiting for healing to ‘happen to me’ I could heal myself and own myself. That is what this album is.”
Join us for a
(Virtual) Listening Party
on Bandcamp
Friday, March 7th
2pm Chicago // 8pm London
Join us for an exclusive listening party for A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole via our Bandcamp page! Enjoy a full album listen-through while Alabaster and our IARC crew helm the chat room.
2025 Tour Dates
DePlume will be touring the United States, the UK, and Europe in support of A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole throughout the spring — see full dates below, more information here. US dates will feature multi-instrumentalist Shazad Ismaily (“one of music’s most coveted collaborators,” according to The New York Times) plus more musicians TBA, with saxophonist/composer Patrick Shiroishi doing supporting opening sets at every show. DePlume’s band for the UK/EU tour will feature percussionist Julian Sartorius, drummer Seb Rochford, bassist Ruth Goller, and Mikey Kenney on strings. More guests to be announced.
March 14 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
March 15 - Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
March 16 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
March 18 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
March 19 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
March 21 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
March 22 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
March 23 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
March 25 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
March 28 - Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival
April 29 - Norwich, UK @ Norwich Arts Centre
April 30 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
May 1 - Newcastle, UK @ Gosforth Civic Hall
May 2 - Glasgow, UK @ Mono
May 3 - Manchester, UK @ Gorilla
May 6 - Bristol, UK @ Trinity Centre
May 7 - Exeter, UK @ Phoenix
May 8 - Southampton, UK @ Papillon
May 9 - London, UK @ Hackney Church
May 10 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
May 15 - Istanbul, TK @ Salon IKSV
May 16 - Warsaw, PL @ Niebo
May 17 - Berlin, DE @ XJAZZ!
May 21 - Paris, FR @ Le Petit Bain
May 22 - Lille, FR @ L'Aéronef
May 23 - Brussels, BE @ La Botanique
May 24 - Amsterdam, NL @ Zonnehuis
May 25 - Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
May 26 - Rotterdam, NL @ Bird
June 1 - Torino, Italy @ Bunker (Jazz Is Dead)
June 7 - Cluj-Napoca, RO @ Jazz In The Park
July 2/5 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
July 4 - Sete, FR @ Worldwide
July 17 - Molde, NO @ Moldejazz
Deluxe Vinyl Package
A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole comes on a 140g vinyl LP in heavyweight jacket with photo insert sheet, IARC 2025 obi strip & poly-lined inner sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K @ SST.
Available on limited edition 'That Was My Garden' color vinyl for $29 USD.
Also available on classic black vinyl for $24 USD.
The 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 ‘𝟮𝟱 𝗕𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘 is now available !!
It is indeed time for a new season of new releases and the Winter ‘25 Bundle collects all 3 yet-to-be-announced new LPs, (including Alabaster DePlume's A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole) and ships them to you - the fervent, faithful collector of our output - as a single parcel.
Purchase gets you a bundle-exclusive discount of 10% off the LP prices as well as a discounted shipping cost.
The bundle will ship from our warehouses in the US, EU, and UK, but don’t wait too long, the quantity available in each warehouse is limited! Early purchase is recommended to ensure the lowest possible shipping, tax, and VAT costs.
All items will ship together in one package around March 7th, so you will receive one LP by its street date and the other two releases shortly ahead of their release dates. Bandcamp downloads will be sent via email for all the releases by, or on, the ship date. Thank you as always for your trust in our label’s output and for your support <𝟯
