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John Butler returns with his first album in three years, April Uprising, to be released April 6. The album finds the multi-platinum Australian artist with a new line up and a new label in the States, ATO Records.
Recorded in Melbourne, Australia at Sing Sing Studios, April Uprising is the follow-up to 2007's critically acclaimed and globally successful release, Grand National, which yielded a No. 1 U.S. Triple A single, “Better Than," and rave reviews for its sophisticated mix of guitar stylings, hip hop beats and intelligent, socially conscious lyrics. The release also attracted a global audience and found the former busker-turned-international-recording-and-touring artist appearing at music fests worldwide performing as the John Butler Trio.
April Uprising, Butler's most focused, diverse and accessible album to date, has already yielded a No. 1 song on the Australian charts with its first single, “One-Way Road." A video for the single can be viewed on the JBT website here.
This spirit of renewal and rebirth was the culmination of an especially momentous period in Butler's life. It began with the seemingly innocuous act of cutting his hair and taking a few months off in late 2008. But it was his appearance on the Australian TV series, Who Do You Think We Are, which takes well-known artists and traces their family trees, which turned out to be a life-changing experience, leading him on the personal and spiritual journey that inspired the revolutionary tone of the album.
Although many of the tracks for the April Uprising had been written, the experiences that ultimately inspired the album's title came about through Butler's incredible journey with the series' documentary filmmakers. He started the voyage hoping to find poets, musicians, and revolutionaries in his past. Instead, he traced the Butler name through generations of hardship to a matriarch who sang for her survival and he traced his Bulgarian ancestry to a forebearer caught up in a violent revolt. Getting to know his ancestors - trailblazers, idealists and bona fide revolutionaries - helped him to make profound sense of his passions as a writer and musician.
Butler unveiled his new band mates in June 2009: Melbourne musician Nicky Bomba (drums and percussion) and Byron Luiters (bass) from Sydney outfit Ray Mann Three. The newly revitalized JBT recorded with long-time engineer Robin Mai and found themselves with 22 songs - 16 of which made it on the album - and a whole new musical palette in the can: playful and explosive, rhythmically complex and melodically immediate, charged with new purpose but more committed than ever to the principles of classic song craft.
Between the epic opening track, “Revolution," and a whispered acoustic coda, “A Star is Born," dedicated to John's son, April Uprising is an album that combines the personal, the political and the musically memorable with skill and passion.
JBT will be touring their highly acclaimed live show to all corners of the world with many iconic festivals throughout 2010, including a sold out North American promo tour of major markets in February, followed by a full U.S. tour scheduled for late May through June 2010.
April Uprising Track Listing 1. Revolution 5:07
2. One Way Road 3:08
3. Come On Now 2:44
4. I'd Do Anything 3:23
5. Ragged Mile 3:59
6. Johnny's Gone 3:34
7. Close To You 3:52
8. Don't Want To See Your Face 2:45
9. Fool For You 5:10
10. Take Me 5:03
11. To Look Like You 4:21
12. Steal It 3:45
13. Mystery Man 3:57
14. Gonna Be A Long Time 3:48
15. A Star Is Born 4:33
John Butler Trio tour dates available here.
