BUTCH WALKER & THE BLACK WIDOWS
I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart
One Haven
If you need proof that the music industry has shifted far away from the major label focus that prevailed for decades, look no further than Butch Walker. The Cartersville native has produced and/or co-written hit records for Pink, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Weezer in recent years, emerging as one of the hottest names in the recording field. Yet for his fifth solo album, we find the hitmaker signed to upstart indie One Haven Music, started in 2009 by A&R veteran Michael Caplan.
Whether by choice or circumstance, the reality underscores the irony that the former Marvelous 3 frontman is making the most accessible music of his career. Over the past two albums he’s all but abandoned the Bowie/Bolan glam fetish of the Let’s Go Out Tonites in favor of a more classic rock sound. The combination of turning 40, witnessing the birth of his first child and losing all his personal possessions and master recordings in the Malibu wildfires appears to have had a profound impact, and I Liked It Better’s mature lyrical themes reflect great personal growth.
The string-laden “Pretty Melody” would sound like some long-lost Motown song were it not for Walker’s lyrics, which chronicle a fateful bar meeting between a gorgeous girl and “just another tattooed tragedy,” who promises “I’ll be your open tab, you’ll be my favorite sin.” The pastoral “Don’t You Think Someone Should Take You Home” has a back-porch bluegrass influence, while “She Likes Hair Bands” sounds like a 21st century Tom Petty and “Be Good ‘Til Then” is achingly pretty folk balladry. It may be too sedate for old school fans, but Butch Walker’s latest is a fantastic rock album made for grown-ups who understand the joy of beginnings, the sadness of endings and the difficult journey that lies between. –BRET LOVE
(originally appeared in Georgia Music Magazine)
No comments:
Post a Comment