Album Review

Voluntary Butler Scheme – A Million Ways To Make Gold

• 24th Mar 2014

One man band Rob Jones returns with his first album for three years. But he has not been idle during that time, making electronic music under the name Flipbook as well as building his own home studio and producing for others. And he also taught himself to play trumpet and saxophone, giving his latest release more of a soulful feel, with brass largely taking over from electronica.

A Million Ways To Make Gold has the feel of a labour of love: carefully crafted songs with soft melodies backing Jones’ expressive voice throughout and lots of big hooks. And plenty of trumpet and saxophone. There is a warm tone to the music, a feel good quality that permeates the, at times, very clever lyrics and the upbeat brass. And it works well, giving an album of what are basically damned good, sweet pop songs.

Opening track The Q Word is six minute long and feels like a link piece between previous VBS work and this album. Beginning with the type of electronic fun and games that dominated previously, it grows into a nice love song before the sax comes in with a repeated melody. A little overlong perhaps, but fun nevertheless.

The album soon settles into a rhythm with Jones’ typically infectious pop choruses popping up everywhere. Looking For Nearby Water and Honey In The Gravel Mixture are good songs with great titles, while the excellent Brain Freeze has so much going on that it is difficult to work out exactly how many instruments there actually are. The break up song Quinzhee is tender while So Tired features what comes close to a ska beat along with a great bass line and perhaps the best brass performance of the album.

There is one cover version on the album, a charming soft version of Tom T Hall’s country song That’s How I Got To Memphis. The VBS version is nothing at all like the original, and while on first look it may sound like a rather strange choice, it is actually quite inspired.

Rob Jones homemade approach to making music has produced some excellent results under the Voluntary Butler Scheme name, and this album adds to a fine repertoire. The addition of the brass instruments gives another variation to his approach, and it adds soul to his bubblegum sweet pop. A Million Ways To Make Gold deserves to be a big hit.

Venue: A Million Ways To Make Gold
Support Band: Split