Songwriting doesn’t get much better than Boy Without God’s (aka Gabriel Birnbaum) track, “Of Cowboys & Other Beautiful Men”, off his new record, “God Bless the Hunger”. It seems Birnbaum knows this too, leading off his album with the song. Try these opening verses on for size: “If I was a cowboy I’d ride out West in the wintertime / If I was a beautiful man I wouldn’t worry bout love / If I was a waterfall I would let water fall / And if I was a broken record I would play the same two chords forever / Rich men make rich eyes over rich chocolate cake at rich women / Rich boys tear up their clothes and do lots of blow / Rich girls follow poor boys around for a sense of danger / Everyone’s a hero baby, everyone’s a hero, I know, I know, I know …”

As far as his musical style goes, Birnbaum’s vocals exist somewhere between Bill Callahan, former Morphine frontman Mark Sandman, and folkster Greg Brown. “Of Cowboys & Other Beautiful Men” sounds like the title to some Chris Offutt book of short stories. The song begins like a modern-folk tune before blossoming into an orchestra of warm horns, strings, and Wurlitzer that feels like love liquified, pouring itself out in a beautifully sprawling arrangement. This record is a real genre-bender, dusky, dusty and weathered as a Midwest gravel road. Whatever you do, don’t write this off as your mom and pop’s folk — because it isn’t. Birnbaum sings poetically above weeping strings on “Diamond Night”: “And I wrestled with demons all night / And alone in the morning, believed that I triumphed / And now I suspect they slipped into my chest with the ghosts of old lovers and kings.” About three-quarters of the way into the track it unravels into a swirl of jazzed-out torment and ache. Truly beautiful stuff, sung with real heart, accented with female vocal accompaniment. That track falls into the pretty waltz and honey-hued “Can’t Concentrate”, an almost eight-minute song with wicked internal transitions, and a slow build-up to vocal splays and dreamy keyboard.

If that weren’t enough, listen to the ambitiousness of the band’s 10-minute “Love Letter”. Boy Without God moves in and out of rock, jazz, folk and blues, as the song explodes like a musical fireworks show — a ripping guitar riff, wailing saxophone, crushing percussion, and blasting trumpets go off for minutes between the two halves of Birnbaum’s verses. It all comes to a head in lines written like the end of a real love letter: “This is the only life I get / And I will spend every night of it asleep / With my arm behind your honey neck / And yours across my chest / Love, Gabriel.” One of the album standouts, “The Snow Speaks”, shows Birnbaum’s vocal range, bringing a serious swaying gospel-soul energy to a song metaphorically about finding one’s spirit amid the frozen landscape: “And the snow speaks to me, of insurmountability … / I’ve got a daughter who’s scattered her breadcrumbs across the sea … / I got nothing, I got everything, I got me.” This is one of the best bands you’ve probably never heard.

Note: You can pre-order this album at this bandcamp link. The official release date for “God Bless the Hunger” is June 21. This is a true band project, with Birnbaum listing 13 other artists who helped contribute to the album’s sound. Make sure to see them on the road, first on June 22 in Brooklyn at a place to be announced; Cambridge, Ma. at Central Square on June 23 for an album release party and then in Montreal, Quebec at Le Cagibi on June 24 before their Midwest dates kick in.