They may favour self-deprecating titles but St Albans band Broken Boat are hoping they are onto a winner with their début album Small Defeats.

Originally planned to be a five-track EP, the trio found there was demand for more and so expanded it into a full 11 songs, recorded at Dan Bahrami’s home in Harpdenden.

The 24-year-old says: “The EP was all ready to go earlier this year and we sent it out to a couple of producers and didn’t hear much back and were actually going to release it, and the day before we got a call from a tour manager saying ‘hold the presses, I want to do a tour with this’.

“So we delayed the release and then had a few months between then and the tour so I decided to write some more songs and make it an album.”

It will be officially released on iTunes and Spotify on July 21 but the band wanted to thank local fans so will give a special gig this Friday.

With a combination of strings, horns, accordions, keyboards and percussion, Dan says Broken Boat’s folk-pop sound is experimental and ever-changing but can be compared to Bright Eyes and The Decemberists. The title is taken from one of the tracks and Dan says the album features poignant lyrics about love and loss but “with an uplifting sound which shows we do not have to succumb to the small defeats in our own lives”.

“A lot of my songs are about things which sound negative but looking at them in a positive way. That’s what the album is about,“ says the part-time web designer.

The band started out when Dan met Brendan Kearney, now a freelance illustrator, at university in Plymouth and they started playing gigs together. They moved back to Dan’s hometown of St Albans when they graduated and Brendan’s girlfriend Jess Hart, a teacher at St Columba’s College, joined them.

Drummer Jerome Maree also played on the album, but has since left the band. The trio collaborate with a circle of other musicians to create colourful live shows which has built them a loyal following.

Tracks from their previous EP Peace and Quiet were featured by Bob Harris on his Radio 2 shows, and song Still Young became BBC Introducing’s Track of the Week and the DJ has said the new album contains ‘music to bring you joy’.

The trio are now preparing to share it with the UK on a three-week tour.

Dan says: “It’s been manic at times and is quite stressful at the moment as we don’t even know where we are staying on tour – we’re not the most organised band – but it’s really exciting.”

The Garibaldi, Albert Street, St Albans, Friday, July 11, 8pm. Details: www.brokenboat.co.uk