Alabaster DePlumes Announces New Album
London-based saxophonist, singer, songwriter, activist, orator, and poet-philosopher Alabaster DePlume announces his new album “A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole,” set for release on March 7 via International Anthem. The album presents eleven songs exploring themes of agency, survival, and presence, addressing life’s challenges head-on rather than seeking escape. This release follows his 2022 album “GOLD” and 2020’s “To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol 1,” as well as his recent EP “Cremisan: Prologue To A Blade” (recorded in Palestine in summer 2024) and poetry book “Looking for my value: Prologue to a blade,” both released in late 2024.
“A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole” showcases DePlume’s artistic versatility through various musical styles: ancient folk melodies, folk-jazz fusion, elegant string arrangements by Macie Stewart that bridge Ravel and Gainsbourg, reimagined choral elements, noir atmospheres, and allegorical songwriting. Throughout the album, DePlume’s distinctive vocal style, reminiscent of Donovan or Devendra Banhart, combines with his vibrato-rich tenor saxophone playing, influenced by Getatchew Mekurya, to express a range of emotions from vulnerability to strength.
Explaining the album’s title, DePlume writes: “A blade, because a blade is whole, it has forgiven itself, and because it will take a small piece of our opposite, for us to be complete. A blade has marked out these former selves on my hand, a blade made the lines that divine us and the blade is whole. A blade. While I forgive myself, and heal, and lead us in healing. We can only forgive each other once we forgive ourselves. We can only heal each other while we heal ourselves.”
The album’s lead track, “Oh My Actual Days,” arrives with a video directed by Rebecca Salvadori, who also created the album cover. The video features DePlume in blue lighting, reflecting on past identities while seeking inner acceptance and healing. The song’s title references London slang, which DePlume explains: “We can, if we choose, read this phrase as a call to the divinity of the moment we are in. Wherever we are, whatever is happening, it is our own life – a life that is made up of the time that we spend. And we call to this – the only real thing that we have.”
The album’s creation was guided by DePlume’s exploration of healing. As he shared with music writer Liz Pelly in the album’s digital liner notes: “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.”
This introspective journey also led to DePlume’s poetry book, “Looking for my value: prologue to a blade.” The seventy-page collection, which influenced many of the album’s lyrics, explores themes of self-strength within community and contemplates the blade’s paradox.
Supporting the album’s release, DePlume will embark on tours across the United States, UK, and Europe this spring. The US shows will feature multi-instrumentalist Shazad Ismaily and supporting acts by saxophonist/composer Patrick Shiroishi. The UK/EU tour band includes percussionist Julian Sartorius, drummer Seb Rochford, bassist Ruth Goller, and Mikey Kenney on strings, with additional guests to be announced.
Tour Dates 2025
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 27 – 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
