YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Anthony LaMarca didn’t release his latest solo album in the typical way.

The announcement came this summer in the form of a faux newspaper he created that arrived in the mailboxes of folks who bought his previous records. There had been no online mention of the album, so those who got the paper were surprised. 

LaMarca is a member of Grammy Award-winning band The War on Drugs. He records as a solo artist under the moniker The Building.

The Boardman-based artist created the eight-page tabloid-size paper, which he dubbed the Petra International Herald (the first word was borrowed from the title of his first solo album), and printed up a batch. The articles included things like song lyrics, drawings, cartoons and other items he culled or created.

It didn’t have a story about the new album, “Weapon,” but there was a full-page “advertisement” for it, with a download code.

“I kind of wanted to do something different, something that wasn’t just your standard ‘announce it online’,” LaMarca said. “I just wanted it to feel exciting in a way that sort of gave listeners a sense of discovery.”

The new album includes delicate piano songs and others that hum with militaristic aggressiveness and a political narrative. 

Snippets of seemingly unrelated conversations that LaMarca calls “soundscape collage” are interwoven into many of the tunes. They organically add context by including something or sparking an idea.

“I had an idea of having different people narrate  different parts of songs, and it kind of just evolved from there,” he said. “There’s definitely some samples throughout the album that are pulled from old TV ads and stuff like that.”

Another piece of the package is the final song, “Watch the Sky.” An acoustic guitar song  written and sung by Lawrence DeSimone, a friend of LaMarca’s late father, it meditates on man’s small status in the universe with nursery rhyme simplicity.

Not surprisingly, the record release show will also be unusual.

It will take place at 8 p.m. Nov. 21 at St. John’s Church, 323 Wick Ave., near Youngstown State University. Admission is $10.

The venue is often used by chamber music ensembles related to YSU’s music school.

But the atmosphere in the castle-like edifice will also suit LaMarca’s concert, which will include sets by Third Class and Gutter Sparrow.

“I love playing at Westside Bowl, but for quiet solo music, it’s nice to have a little alternative,” LaMarca said. “This could be different and fun.”

Third Class, led by Lee Boyle, has been making creatively offbeat work for decades. The band is held in high esteem within the regional rock community, including LaMarca.

“I feel like they’re gaining respect as being like Youngstown’s Yo La Tengo – you know, every musician’s favorite band,” he said. “They’re just always putting out great stuff.”

Boyle said his set will be “a one-man EDM and multimedia version of Third Class classics and new stuff.”

His band is working on a new single, that should be ready for release around Valentine’s Day, called “Another Song with Love in the Title.”

The opening act, Gutter Sparrow, is simply John Mosloskie, a longtime friend of LaMarca’s.

A New Yorker who now lives in Italy, Mosloskie’s rare trips to the United States usually include a visit to Youngstown, where he records albums at Peppermint Studio with LaMarca as producer.

Mosloskie will record his next album at Peppermint this month.