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 on International Anthem.

On “Invincibility,” DePlume’s poetic harmonies and lush instrumentation echoes the playful and idiosyncratic 1960s British Folk scene. Propelled by Alabaster’s lilting yet melancholic melody, the song is a reflection on emotional presence and the affirming power of letting one’s self experience their feelings.

As Alabaster writes: “When I feel my feelings (instead of escaping them) I can discover that I survive them, and that I was not destroyed by them. I can experience this as a sense of invincibility. Where I find that I am able independently to live through what I feel, I am empowered and I generate my own agency.”

Listen to “Invincibility” and pre-order / pre-save A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole here.

In the video for the track, 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!”

Watch the music video for “Invincibility” here.

Throughout the eleven songs on 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 music writer Liz Pelly, who wrote an essay to accompany the album as 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.”

Read Liz Pelly’s essay on the album here.

This self-reflection and personal evaluation led DePlume to author his poetry book, Looking for my value: prologue to a blade. The seventy pages of verse (much of which were repurposed as lyrics throughout A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole) ponder the pursuit for strength of self within a community, alongside meditations on the paradox of the blade.

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.

Full album credits here.