The 13 tracks on Paul Trudeau's new album offer a musical journey through a tumultuous relationship after his divorce, a roller-coaster ride which brings out both uncertainty and existential doubt, as well as a resolve to move past it.

Music has been part of Paul Trudeau’s DNA since growing up a young prodigy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist studied at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music at 11 and had played in any number of garage-rock bands in the Boston area as a teenager. 

The in-demand session player and road warrior has also used whatever spare time he can find to carve out a solo career in between going on the road as a keyboardist for Billy Idol. He has also played with Rick Springfield, Melissa Etheridge, Meredith Brooks and Susanna Hoffs, among countless others. His new album, Lost Diamond Boy, his Blue Elan Records debut and first since 2017’s Shirley Road, shows off his own classic-rock influences, including Elton John, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Paul Simon and, of course, the Beatles and the Stones.

“The beauty of songwriting is the alchemy,” said Trudeau. “That magical moment where something literally comes from nothing. Then I let the song dictate what to do next.”

Produced by Camilla Darling at Dave’s Room in North Hollywood, Lost Diamond Boy offers a glimpse into Trudeau’s post-breakup hurt and confusion. The musical cast included Billy Idol bandmate Steve Stevens (with a lilting flamenco-style acoustic solo on the first released track “Three Little Things”) longtime friend, Erik Eldenius on drums and even his 21-year-old son Lucien Valen on guitar (check out the searing solo on the “Californication”-ish “One at a Time,” a nod to the AA program slogan). The genres represented on the album range from country and folk to rock as well as blues and soul.

“I have no idea what ‘Lost Diamond Boy’ means,” Paul admitted. “I liked the phrase and it just fit the time scheme. I had already written the entire song when I came up with it. What I’ve found is the less I think about it, the better things turn out. I’ve learned not to be too precious about the process.”

From Trudeau’s Dylanesque harp which opens “Tiny Little Joke,” Lost Diamond Boy proves to be his own Blood on the Tracks, an unflinching look at a fractured relationship that tore away at him, as on “Big Plan 3,” where he sings, “Lean on bad dreams, I don’t think we’re gonna survive.” Eric Gorfain’s swelling string arrangement brings a cinematic scope to “Break You,” in which Kathleen Fisher takes the female vocal in a dialogue/duet in which the voices ultimately become intwined in harmony. The rocking’ “Kindness of Strangers” evokes Elvis Costello in its combination of vulnerability and cynicism, with lyrics like “I’m on the same broken path you’re on/With the kindness of strangers and the goddess of everything wrong.” 

“For a minute, the line was ‘guidance of everything wrong,’” he explained. “It sings the same way, though.”

The title track delivers a Jackson Browne-esque reflection on loss and loyalty, while “Taken Away” offers the short story pleasure of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound” or “America,” with a lovely Gorfain fiddle solo underlining a real-life tale of running away from home with his best friend.  The closing “Which Way to Go,” featuring background vocals by Blue Elan recording artist Barlow, is the perfect description of the working songwriter’s plight, “He’s got a notebook of his own songs in the car/He don’t know which way to go,” even as it leaves the door a crack open for better times in the future.

“It is the best closer because it is the most direct song lyrically,” said Trudeau about the track, which was originally intended for Bernie Barlow’s album. “It’s time to move on.”

By the time he was 18, Trudeau had left home for Los Angeles, where he immediately was hired to play keyboards with local band Darling Cruel, signed to a major label record deal on Polydor. He also experienced success in film and TV synchs, landing a series of songs on the soundtracks of hit shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Jag and Providence. For the last decade-plus, Trudeau has been playing keyboards for Billy Idol and will continue to do so on this summer’s arena tour with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. He lives in Glendale, California, with his 21-year-old son, who plays bass and guitar and daughter, 18.

“Balancing these parallel careers has always been a constant in my life,” concluded Trudeau, who previously had the band radiojones. “Ever since I was in Darling Cruel, I’ve wanted to front my own band. There are no words to express what it’s like to play in a band with your kid.”