Paul Seeba is celebrating the release (April 8) of his most recent album, Votive. It’s a well formed collection of songs written in the last decade (or more) that all fit in the world we’ve come to today.
It was a delight to talk to Paul about the music and the literary allusions and role of Ireland and the impact of growing up in Hibbing on previous albums as well as the upcoming release. Paul is a great storyteller, which really coming through on a song like Tiny Ships. He has a power of observation and humor in lyrics such as “get my wisdom from bumper stickers” in Underwater Votive. What I really enjoyed about the album was a subtle theme of yin and yang of that pull of things that seem like they are opposites but are really closer to similar than you think – like Love & Hate. Those opposite ends of the spectrum become quite close when you go full circle.
Paul’s unafraid to tackle hard topics, like the Irish Goodbye, a song inspired by a cancer diagnosis. (He’s all clear now!) He also has an ability to draw the warmth from the dark.
Mostly Minnesota 