This week, Alabaster DePlume — the acclaimed London-based saxophonist, singer, songwriter, activist, orator, and poet-philosopher — embarks on a 10-date US tour in support of his acclaimed new album A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, available now on LP, CD, and digital download via International Anthem. The “stunning” (The Guardian) new album is available on streaming on March 25.

As UNCUT writes, “Alabaster DePlume mesmerizes live, blowing minds with fearless absurdity and raw exposed feeling.” Live performances will feature an array of special guests, varying on a night-to-night basis. Slated to join DePlume on stage are the likes of multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (“one of music’s most coveted collaborators,” according to The New York Times), drummer Tcheser Holmes of Irreversible Entanglements, percussionist / multi-instrumentalist Dan Bitney of Tortoise, violinist / vocalist Macie Stewart, drummer Helen De La Rosa, vocalist Monique Golding of Black Monument Ensemble, flutist Rob Frye, cellist Olula Negre, and many more musicians yet to be revealed. All dates will feature supporting sets from saxophonist/composer Patrick Shiroishi. Full tour itinerary below.

Last week, DePlume shared “Form A V,” the album’s enchantingly fierce third streaming single. It’s a poetic summoning of inner strength, even against overwhelming odds. As DePlume shares: “At times we can find ourselves maligned or misunderstood by all others, even our closest allies. We can be alone in believing in ourselves, with a feeling that we need others to believe in us, in order to go on. But this is the perfect time to generate our independent faith in ourselves, precisely because it’s the one time we are not supported. In jiu-jitsu we have a practice where the whole dojo stands in the shape of a V, and one person stands facing them. That person is then attacked by each of the others in quick succession, and they deal with it however they can. And so the title is a challenge to the world, ‘go on, form a v – I am ready.’”

Listen to “Form a V” and purchase A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole here.

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.

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 (courtesy of Macie Stewart), disembodied voices, noir atmosphere, and allegoric, troubadouric song. Throughout, Alabaster’s intimate, confessional croon and vibrato-laced tenor saxophone convey, with a startling humanistic touch, everything from dejected fragility to resolute strength.

Following these US live performances, DePlume will tour the UK and Europe throughout the spring — see full dates below, more information here. 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.