Today, Alabaster DePlume — the renowned London-based saxophonist, singer, songwriter, activist, orator, and poet-philosopher — unveils A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, a bold new album set for release on March 7 via International Anthem.

With the new record, DePlume presents eleven tracks centered on agency, survival, and presence — songs that confront life's pains head-on rather than shying away from them, banishing escapism in the process.

It’s his first major work following 2022’s GOLD and 2020's To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol 1.

It also directly follows his EP Cremisan: Prologue To A Blade (recorded in Palestine over summer 2024) and his poetry book Looking for my value: Prologue to a blade, both of which were released in late 2024 as precursors to this album.

Across A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, DePlume channels his reflections on healing, dignity, and struggle through a captivating blend of diverse musical styles: haunting, timeless folk melodies; turbulent folk-jazz grooves; lush string arrangements that balance Ravel and Gainsbourg (arranged by Macie Stewart); disembodied voices reshaping into a post-modern Greek chorus; noir-infused atmospheres; and allegorical, troubadour-like songs.

Throughout the album, Alabaster’s intimate, confessional croon (reminiscent of Donovan or Devendra Banhart) and vibrato-rich tenor saxophone (echoing Getatchew Mekurya) convey a strikingly human range of emotion, from fragile vulnerability to unyielding strength.

“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," DePlume says of the album title. "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.”

In the video for the powerful and cinematic lead track 'Oh My Actual Days' — directed by artist Rebecca Salvadori, who also shot the album cover — DePlume, bathed in blue light, reflects pensively on past self-perceptions while striving for internal acceptance and, ultimately, healing.

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 shaped by the time (the days, the actual days) we spend. And we call to this — the only real thing we have: our time. Whatever we are experiencing, it belongs to us, it is the ‘actual’ moment we are in. And it is divine. This is the introduction to the album.”

DePlume will embark on a spring tour across the United States, the UK and Europe in support of A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole — see here for full tour dates. US dates will feature multi-instrumentalist Shazad Ismaily, alongside additional musicians to be announced, with saxophonist/composer Patrick Shiroishi opening each show. For the UK/EU leg, DePlume’s band will include percussionist Julian Sartorius, drummer Seb Rochford, bassist Ruth Goller, and Mikey Kenney on strings, with more special guests to be revealed.

A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole artwork