April Uprising

I'm a huge John Butler Trio fan, and it felt like this album was taking forever to come out. This is the first album John Butler's done with his new lineup, ostensibly because he was looking for a different sound, and mission accomplished, it does sound a lot different from his previous stuff. Not to knock on Michael Barker and Shannon Birchall, those two are great fucking musicians, but Butler's meshed pretty well with new drummer Nicky Bomba (who's actually his brother-in-law and was Butler's original drummer way back when) and bassist Byron Luiters.

April Uprising's easily John Butler's most polished work to date. Gone are the overindulgent guitar solos; brother's no longer concerned with showing off how great a guitar player he is, and is actually being a bit more adventurous with his music. There are all kinds of styles at work here, townhall, reggae, country, even rock (he's playing the electric guitar for the first time on a studio album). You can tell he's been challenging himself quite a bit, yet the album still feels like three guys just jamming in someone's home studio and throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. I love that. I love how he switches gears so effortlessly, from the fast, fun rock stylings of "One Way Road", to subtle politics of "Johnny's Gone", to the genuinely brilliant desperation of "Take Me". I love watching (or in this case, hearing) growth, whether it's from my favourite writers or musicians.



"Close to You". It could have been a typical preachy John Butler song from five years ago, a humourless rage against The Man. But that was the old JB. There's a fun, uncharacteristic rock vibe, and it does sound like a rage at first, which makes the sentimentality of the lyrics a pleasant surprise. There's a funky hook at around the three-minute mark of the song that I just can't get enough of.

Which isn't to say that John Butler's suddenly transformed into the Brandon Flowers of hippie songwriting or anything. I mean, check out this first single from the new album:



"It's never enough because they can't relate
To the real world, thinking that the oyster is just for the pearl"

Now that's the John Butler I remember. But you forgive him, because it's such a goddamned fun song.

There are one or two missteps here and there. "To Look Like You" is... I mean, I like it, don't get me wrong, but I don't know if a 34-year-old hippie should be singing about what it's like to be a teenage girl. (It's a song about body image issues and is actually quite decent, but still.) Overall, though, April Uprising's a triumph for Butler, who's come a long way from busking on the streets of Fremantle. I could listen to this album over and over every day (and, in fact, I am). It's his best work yet, and really a testament to what you can do when you've reached the top of the mountain, but aren't content with resting on your laurels, and want to reach for the sky.