Paul Schalda is an artist without artifice. On his debut solo album, Lately, the Texas transplant troubadour channels the human experience with a transparent, poetic purity. With instinctive melodies and a singularly visceral voice, Schalda’s folk-flecked indie soul is at once vulnerable, personal, and hugely relatable. Lately is being released by Skylark Soul Co. on November 7th.
“The goal was to mix the energy of my East Coast family with my new Texas family,” said Schalda, who moved from his native Staten Island to Dallas eight years ago. “It’s an ode to the human experience … of leaving all my roots behind and navigating new terrain.”
For Schalda, music is an innate family trait. His dad, a member of 1960s vocal group The Montereys, would teach his young sons Beach Boys and Beatles harmonies on long car rides. Paul got his start singing in a church choir, later joining his older brother’s hardcore band at age 13. To this day he has a doo-wop band with his father and siblings, The Sha La Das. “It was just kind of in me,” he mulled. “I grew up doing it, it was always there, and I’ve always loved it.”
Almost inevitably, a music career unfurled. Schalda explored folk-pop with Pablo, whose 2006 Half The Time was declared a Top 10 album of the year by KEXP, and rustic Americana with Paul & the Tall Trees, whose 2016 Our Love In The Light earned the same accolade from KCRW. He was a longtime member of Charles Bradley’s touring band, also writing songs for the late soul legend, and later formed indie pop project Las Los with a former Bradley bandmate.
But in 2017, Schalda left Bradley and moved to Texas to devote himself to imminent parenthood. Friends gave the lifelong Staten Islander two weeks max in the Lone Star State, but he knuckled down to a 9-to-5, put his guitar in a corner, and passionately embraced fatherhood (“the greatest thing in the world”).
When divorce and shared custody left him with time on his hands, Schalda returned to songwriting as his go-to therapy. The songs that would ultimately become Lately were subconsciously steeped in his relocation, separation, and boundless love for his kids. Indeed, Lately is a record permeated with love in all its incarnations: romantic, familial, parental, brotherly, and musical.
A fortuitous chain of events connected Schalda, a huge basketball fan, with renowned Texan multihyphenate Jeff “Skin” Wade: Dallas Mavericks announcer and (among many other things) co-founder of the Skylark Soul Co. label. A fixture on the North Texas music scene and a passionate fan of what he terms the “criminally under-listened to” Tall Trees and Las Los, Wade energized Schalda’s reinvention as a solo artist, introducing him to some of the best talent in town and offering to release his music through Skylark.
A reluctant yet mesmerizing frontman, Schalda is supporting Lately with shows across Texas and on both coasts, sometimes alone, sometimes as a duo or with various permutations of the Lately studio band. His live sets also feature songs from his earlier incarnations and, when possible, his Pops alongside him on stage.
Today, Glide is offering a premiere of the video for the title track. The song is impressive in the way Schalda effortlessly fuses soul, folk, and country into something that is emotionally stirring with its poignant, personal lyrics and rich, layered vocals. Lyrically, it also speaks to our dark times while offering a glimmer of hope. With its warm horns and cozy groove, the song ultimately leaves you feeling uplifted while showcasing Schalda’s unique set of talents. The video also does a fine job of capturing the song’s communal spirit.
“Bringing light to the dark. Confused? Feel uncertain about where you are or where you’re headed? You’re not alone. It will get better. The highs. The lows. All even out. From fire to electricity. We figure it out. Look up. Breathe.” – Paul Schalda on “Lately”
“Paul said it perfectly. We added horns after the fact to give it a lift at the end. Really happy with how the rhythm section was tracked. Had a nice immediacy to it. Becki adds so much to this record but her and Paul together on this and “Robots” are truly some peanut butter and jelly shit. They sound great together.” – Skin Wade on “Lately”
WATCH:
