Review Summary: After a little look back, it's time to trade 12 for 6
The follow up to 2010’s April Uprising sees the Trio with over a decade of experience and a fresh approach to their Western Australian homeland music. You can almost tell just by listening to it that this is the Trio’s sixth studio album and that Butler has his mind ready for exploring a shade of blues he hadn’t yet explored or considered recording with the Trio. Flesh + Blood feels like a home, a settlement where Butler and his buddies can sit for hours amongst the notoriously damaging Australian sun and jam it out until their music breathes fresh air. Album’s like Sunrise Over Sea and Grand National feel like the product of Butler’s travels, whereas Flesh + Blood is carved from the surrounding environment, making it some of their purist work yet.
Replacing reggae and orchestral masterpieces like ‘What You Want’ are raw songs heavily influenced by blues. ‘Blame It On Me’ is a sort of jam-turned-song with an actual structure where Butler jumps on the six string electric guitar for a change and shows off his soloing skills representing the likes of Alvin Lee or Eric Clapton. The track that follows is ‘Only One’ - the leading single from the album which raised concerns that JBT may have lost sight of their origin and led them to a vision for greater mainstream success. That being said, instead of being the potential vision for the album, ‘Only One’ is closer to being the odd one out. It’s jumpy pop feel mixed with Butler’s signature acoustic fingerpicking grooves makes it an fun and interesting song that’s difficult to be mad about. It’s a little like a ‘brace yourself for the next few songs are quite slow and might need a few listens to get’.
Indeed what first felt to be a filler turns out to be some of the most heartfelt pieces on the album. ‘Young and Wild’ is a beautiful, melodic look at Butler’s spectacular past. I imagine it’s the sort of thing Butler would like to play on his oldest guitar, that holds endless memories in the scratches from his years of famous guitar drumming. Songs like ‘Young and Wild’ are the final tile in a mosaic making Flesh + Blood an incredibly dynamic, enjoyable and passionate album. It reeks of dented fingertips, splintery drumsticks, old persian rugs and cold beer sitting and shaking on top of a 20 year old amp.
There’s still slide guitar, incredibly rhythmic vocals and plenty of jamming, so don’t feels as though losing six strings changes everything. The thing is, there really isn’t a bad song on Flesh + Blood. Some leave bigger marks than others perhaps, but at no point when listening to it did I feel the need to skip to the next track. Butler has evolved and settled comfortably as one of Australia’s greatest guitar players, and is now tattooing his name on the Australian arm of music where he won’t be forgotten. That’s something to be proud of.
