Paul Shapera writes pulp operas. Just as pulp fiction covered everything from hard boiled detective stories to Buck Rogers, Tarzan to Flash Gordon, Paul’s albums fantasy musicals cover a 180 year span of history in the fictional city of New Albion. Albums can shift genres from steampunk to dieselpunk, atompunk to weird west, psychedelic to cyberpunk, depending on where in the timeline the story is taking place.
These strange tales are full of morally ambiguous characters, high drama, intricate world building, and soaring melodies.
“My work is very much like an epic science fiction book series, but told in highly emotive music, like an opera cycle made with various forms of popular music,” says Paul.
He just released the latest continuation of Jill’s story, ‘Jill’s Psychedelic Sunday,’ from his previous albums, ‘The Dolls Of New Albion’ and the ‘Posthuman War’ series. It explores different sides of psychedelic music with an overall sound similar to Pink Floyd meets the Phantom of the Opera.
Much like how shifting genres in his different albums reveal a different part of New Albion’s history, the different ways he uses the psychedelic genre is a way to tell the listener where Jill is in her journey within this particular continuation.
‘Jill’s Psychedelic Sunday’ explores Jill’s journey through ritual induced psychedelia. The album opens with “Coming Up,” which sets up the rest of the album. It depicts a ritual initiation, with the leader telling Jill to drink something in order to be initiated. The rest of the album is her journey within her mind and conscience.
The music of “Behind the Midnight Scene” lays out the recurring musical motif of the album that always shows back up when Jill’s traveling between journeys. You are on this trip with Jill.
Each song contains spoken snippets. They act as a guiding element to listeners and build on the story at large. They are meant to ground you and keep you and Jill together.
“This album more than any other in recent memory was made because it was the album I wanted to listen to,” shares Paul. “Other albums are the story I want to tell right then, or the music that I feel I need to express, or the style I most want to explore. This one was the one I just simply wanted to listen to. I wish it were on Spotify so I could play it.”
