Explosive and liberated: After his departure from Arcade Fire, Will Butler plays relaxed pop.
Will Butler actually wanted to record a solo album. So really solo, experimenting alone in the basement and seeing what comes out of it – perhaps a reaction to his departure from Arcade Fire, which had become increasingly bombastic and conceptual. The fact that it has now become a band album is partly due to Butler’s wife Jenny Shore and her sister Julie, with whom he had already worked on vocal arrangements and stage performance for a tour.
This work turned out to be so fruitful that Butler increasingly involved the two of them plus Sara Dobbs and Miles Francis as Sister Squares in the album production. The result is a record that breathes the collective spirit of the recordings: equipped with a lot of 1980s vibes, the songs push forward uncompromisingly, especially at the beginning.
Simple but colorfully shimmering synth melodies and Butler’s breathlessly intense vocals determine the sound and convey a spontaneity and energy that is infectious. In addition, songs like “Willows,” which sits somewhere between New Order and MGMT, or “Long Grass,” which is supported by intricate grooves, are simply really good pop. It’s lucky that Will Butler wasn’t left alone in the basement.
Author: Elias Pietsch