Music review: Butch Walker 鈥� 鈥楽tay Gold鈥�
Butch Walker has always had a way of crafting songs that possess an abundance of sugary hooks and mouthwatering lyrics.
From his time with Marvelous 3 and into his solo career, Walker鈥檚 songwriting has received the attention of critics and fans through the Georgia native鈥檚 heartfelt storytelling relayed in power-pop tracks drenched in wit, vulnerability and rebellion.
Walker鈥檚 last album abandoned the usual infectious pop-and-rock formula to feature engrossing arrangements that were deliberately slower, darker, revealing and introspective with last year鈥檚 鈥淎fraid of Ghosts.鈥�
With 鈥淪tay Gold,鈥� Walker returns from the shadows with 10 invigorating tracks about hope, perseverance, love, heartache, regret, survival and triumph that represent some of the most engaging songwriting of his career.
Taking a reference from S.E. Hinton鈥檚 novel 鈥淭he Outsiders,鈥� the title track opens with a gritty guitar lick that recklessly introduces the lyrics detailing the joys and struggles of growing up and trying to find your own path through all the bumps and scrapes experienced along the way.
鈥淓ast Coast Girl鈥� continues the guitar-driven rock with hints of Bruce Springsteen as Walker passionately screams his intentions to prove his love to a disillusioned girl by singing, 鈥淪o Johnnie tell me that you鈥檙e alright/I wanna cover you up tonight/Give me one more chance to show you something real/You can run but you can鈥檛 hide/It鈥檚 a cruel, cruel summer outside/Shine on little baby, you鈥檙e too good for this world/Just another broken East Coast girl.鈥�
Walker slows down the mood on a tender power ballad with country singer Ashley Monroe on 鈥淒escending.鈥� Describing a fragile relationship in need of direction, Monroe鈥檚 sweet Tennessee voice sings, 鈥淢aybe I鈥檓 just scared of landing/Maybe you are too/It鈥檚 a beautiful misunderstanding/From my point of view.鈥�
Walker counters by announcing, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a memory I keep having/And I don鈥檛 know what it means/We鈥檙e not falling, we鈥檙e not flying/It鈥檚 somewhere in between.鈥�
There are plenty of fist-pumping moments and sing-along choruses on 鈥淟udlow Expectations鈥� with Walker declaring, 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 a melody in my head/And I鈥檒l sing it till you come home/And if you do I ain鈥檛 ever letting go.鈥�
鈥淩ecord Store鈥� closes out the engaging set with acoustic guitar and violin adding a nostalgic feel as Walker paints a vivid picture of longing for a past lover and yearning for the way things used to be as he sings 鈥淢eet me at the record store/Even though it ain鈥檛 there anymore.鈥�
Walker certainly lives up to the album鈥檚 title and proves that the melodies in his head are indeed golden.
Clint Rhodes is the 缅北禁地 music reviewer.
He can be reached at crhodes@heraldstandard.com.