The John Butler Trio
Flesh And Blood

LA RECENSIONE

It's a drizzly morning in Bologna when, after years and years and years of attempts, I finally decide to open a Tumblr and try to be somewhat consistent with updating it. I should be in the library studying, but instead, I'm in the kitchen, my roommates are not here, and so I try to find the right atmosphere to get into the part of the Hemingway of 2014. (just kidding. No offense, Hemingway, I never could) and the first thing to start with is music. Or a cigar, but now it's easier for me to put on some music. The choice falls on Flesh&Blood, the latest work by John Butler and his two companions. Personally, I already loved him before, now with this small gem, he has really managed to enter my top 2014.

Aside from the cover, which is quite the hipster move (but without too much pretense; I can't stop looking at it), the tracks are simply beautiful. The kind of beautiful that would even move my grandmother (a purist of Mahler, Mahler only) or anyone who has never approached the genre before.

This album simultaneously infuses a serene calm ("You’re Free" above all) but also a rhythmic energy ("Livin’ In The City" reminds me so much of the RHCP that I thought I had put on the wrong album). It's unmistakable, even with the electric, it manages to remain “John Butler the one from Ocean,” where "Ocean" in this case is "Spring To Come," a quick and light ballad. Lastly, "Bullet Girl," which I can say is my favorite, which despite its name is almost a lullaby, where the acoustic is so clean at times it sounds electric.

The only doubt, "Only One" as a single? I wouldn't have chosen that. But then again, I'm not John Butler, I write posts on Tumblr… Through all this, a Spotify ad has just started to ruin my atmosphere. No, I don't want Premium. I mean, I would like it, but for now I still can't afford it.

Peace!

Roberta Frigeni