Music review: Butch Walker – 鈥楢fraid of Ghosts鈥�
After producing albums for artists such as Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Pink, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy to name just a few, Butch Walker hands over the production responsibilities to music chameleon Ryan Adams on his seventh studio release.
As a result, Walker鈥檚 personal lyrics paint vivid scenarios of pain, loss and lessons learned through Adams鈥� stripped-down production. I鈥檝e been a fan of Walker since his days as frontman for Marvelous 3. I fondly remember seeing the band perform with Collective Soul at St. Vincent College some 16 years ago.
The tireless trio delivered an abundance of sugary hooks and mouth-watering lyrics to the pleasure of all the closet posers and lip sync enthusiasts in attendance that evening.
With 鈥淎fraid of Ghosts,鈥� Walker replaces his catchy writing style with breathtakingly engrossing arrangements that are deliberately slower, darker and revealing. In fact, the latest effort contains some of the Georgia native鈥檚 most astute songwriting of his career.
Walker submerges himself into the fragile tracks that tell haunting stories with a tragic sincerity and heartbreaking intensity. The title track sets the tone for the songs to follow with its folksy, organic feel guided by acoustic guitars, piano and Walker singing about what scares him the most and turning it into something real.
鈥淔ather鈥檚 Day鈥� was penned by Walker shortly after his father鈥檚 passing and features Bob Mould assisting on guitar, while 鈥�21+鈥� spotlights Johnny Depp making a guest guitar appearance on the tune about being trapped in a small town.
Full of pure singer-songwriter appeal, Walker shines on the tender ballads of loss and regret with 鈥淎utumn Leaves鈥� and 鈥淪till Drunk.鈥� The simplistic intensity of 鈥淎fraid of Ghosts鈥� reminds me of other great albums in my collection with the same emotional appeal such as Adams鈥� 鈥淗eartbreaker,鈥� Pete Yorn鈥檚 鈥淢usicforthemorningafter鈥� and Nick Drake鈥檚 鈥淔ive Leaves Left.鈥� Walker鈥檚 methodical pacing, shared intimacy and engaging storytelling make for an album of undeniable impact.
Clint Rhodes is the 缅北禁地 music reviewer. He can be reached at crhodes@heraldstandard.com.