• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Jul 28, 2020 Web Exclusive By Haydon Spenceley

“Are we having a conversation?” asks Butch Walker, over and over and over again on “The Singer,” the opener of this troubling album of musings on contemporary life. It’s a vignette, an overture if you will, but it sets the tone for an album full of questioning, doubt and statements of disquiet and distrust. “After 25 years I forget what it’s like to do the same old shit on every Saturday night” goes a pair of lines on “Gridlock,” whose chorus ends with “collisions are all I know.”

The record is an exquisitely produced singer/songwriter effort. At first glance it feels like simply a radio-ready record but scratch beneath the surface and there’s so much going on here. Titles like “Divided States of America,” “Torn in the USA,” and “Blinded By the White” are indicative of the nature of things. This is protest on the wings of glam rock and an arch state of knowing whimsy. Not many people are making music like Butch Walker, that’s for sure and the passion with which he delivers these tirades against the status quo leaves the listener in no doubt that he backs up with his life what he sings in his songs. Listen. Truly listen. You might not like what he has to say but it’s worth all of us taking note, taking stock, and checking ourselves. We should be thankful to Butch Walker for the step he’s taken with this record. (www.butchwalker.com)

Author rating: 7/10