St. Paul & The Broken Bones mine the very fiber of soul music, a seminal American sound. It’s music suited for celebration and exhortation, the sound of pure pop wholly detached from today’s over the top theatrics and political pontificating. While Sea of Noise—the follow-up to their widely hailed debut, 2014’s Half the City—never shies away from offering commentary on society’s failings, it doesn’t revel in them either. Rather, it finds singer and frontman Paul Janeway exhorting his listeners to find a higher purpose, using effusive, ecstatic revelry to rouse the faithful while encouraging them to get caught up in a kind of aural delirium. That’s apparent on giddier numbers like “Midnight on the Earth” and “Brain Matter,” but especially so on riveting ballads like “I’ll Be Your Woman” (in which Janeway effectively switches gender perspective without hesitation), “Flow With It (You Got Me Feeling Like)” and “Tears in the Diamond,” songs that find him testifying with the tenacity of the most fervent Bible beater. Little wonder then that he often brings to mind another great torch singer turned preacher, Al Green. Ultimately, Sea of Noise is a powerful testament to the unflagging power of music borne from faith and conviction. That makes for a festive noise, indeed.