Butch Walker in Telegraph’s Best Country Music Albums of 2015
02 Oct 2015
On his seventh album, Butch Walker, a sought-after producer himself, brings in Ryan Adams to oversee a very personal and moving album about the emotions stirred by the death of his father. They are beautifully crafted songs, sung with feeling and subtlety and with lyrics full of honesty. Whether it’s insights about the constraints of where you live (21+) or about flawed love (Still Drunk) or a grief (Afraid of Ghosts), the songs here repay listening. And Father’s Day is a very plaintive song. The musicianship is top notch, with Adams weighing in on drums on two tracks and some neat 12-string playing from Mike Viola. Listen out, too, for Stephen Pratt’s subtle work on accordion on Afraid of Ghosts. Actor Johnny Depp acquits himself well on a guitar solo on 21+