Album Review

Butch Walker – Afraid Of Ghosts

• 2nd Feb 2015

American singer songwriter, guitarist and producer Butch Walker’s seventh studio release is a powerful and very personal one. The excellent album is a tribute to his late father, who died in 2013, and Walker senior is clearly the inspiration for several of its tracks. The album was produced by Ryan Adams, and his influence is clear, especially on the slower songs. But there is plenty of variety here.

Opening with the mournful title track, which sees Walker tell of visiting his father in a hospice, the pain is clearly expressed, as is his desire to try to understand the man he knows he is about to lose. Father’s Day has a similar theme, with Walker trying to confront his grief and lack of a direction on the first father’s day without his dad. And it is the love of his own son that gets him thought. This one was co-written by Adams and result is memorable – and just when you think the acoustic track is over a fine Bob Mould guitar solo bursts through as a coda.

There are several other very good tracks too. 21+ is an alt-country acoustic tale of growing up, responsibilities taking over from the pursuit of love and adventure. Again a nice guitar solo takes the track in a different direction – this time from Johnny Depp. Who knew he could play killer lead guitar? Still Drunk is a fine dark, and at times humorous, tale that looks back to a past love. Regret and loss mix with pleasant memories in a deliciously bitter sweet track.

The album’s first single Chrissie Hynde is a coming of age tale of listening to The Pretenders and features a fine soulful vocal performance from Walker. Bed On Fire has a more expansive style as Walker’s vocals soar over layered strings to very good effect. And the closing acoustic In The Dark sees Walker try to move on, the rhythmic song working well as a final track.

There was a danger of this album becoming depressing, but while much of the subject matter is undoubtedly dark that never happens. Rather the heartfelt lyrics combine with subtle instrumentation and some lovely vocals to make this a very good collection of emotional songs. The mostly stripped back musical approach suits the lyrics very well, and shows that Butch Walker has a tender side that allows him to make a very personal album with wide appeal.

Venue: Afraid Of Ghosts
Support Band: Lojinx