The John Butler Trio: Grand National

I've mentioned John Butler several times here, ever since I dicovered (and reviewed) his album Sunrise over Sea. Grand National is his new release, and it manages the difficult challenge of being in the same vein while sounding significantly different.

The core of the album remains this folk meets ska meets blues, (mostly) acoustic trio of Butler on vocals, slide guitar(s) and banjo, Shannon Birchall on bass and Michael Barker on drums. The instrumentations, however, are varied, more so than on Sunrise over Sea. Throughout the album you get lots of harmonica (yay!), strings, a brass band horn section, wurlitzer and B3, didgeridoo, as well as various backing vocals. In that sense, Grand National is more varied than its predecessor.

Another interesting aspect of this new album is that its mood is quite different from that of the melancholy Sunrise over Sea. There's more anger, as on Devil Running and the superb Gov Did Nothin' - about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina - but also more upbeat stuff on funky tempos that feature more positive lyrics: Carpe Diem seems to be a recurring theme (Better Than, Good Excuse), but Butler also dwells on seduction (Groovin' Slowly), love (Daniella) and other themes.

I enjoyed (and still enjoy) Sunrise over Sea (and the previous one, Three) so much that I was a little worried this new album wouldn't live up to its promise. Needless to say I'm more than reassured! Grand National is an absolute winner! If you like your music funky, if you like Ben Harper, Jack Johnson or G Love, if you like acoustic folk with a twist, go get it!