Young Sick Camellia is the third album from Alabama eight-piece soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones.
Harkening back to the days when a group was measured by the tightness of their musicianship and the power of their delivery, the band makes a convincing case for greatest active rhythm and blues band on the planet. Sometimes it sounds like vintage Muscle Shoals, sometimes it leans more disco (“GotItBad”), and other times its psychedelic (“NASA”) or funk (“Apollo”).
Even more than retro-modern contemporaries like Leon Bridges, Nathaniel Rateliff and Lee Fields, St. Paul & The Broken Bones project a timeless yet original sound that’s simply irresistible.
Score: 🥀🥀🥀🥀/5
Ryan is a writer, editor and vinyl collector currently based in Los Angeles. He started Mini Music Critic in 2017.