Cam Butler is a multi instrumentalist and producer who was also the co-writer of songs with the late and legendary Ron S Peno (Died Pretty) in the fabulous Ron S Peno and the Superstitions which he co-founded. Their album ‘Do The Understanding’ was one of my albums of the year in 2023. In addition, Butler is also a rather brilliant composer and he has just released a new solo album entitled ‘Spirits Flying Home’.
It is a beautiful elegiac album, sparse and open, consisting entirely of sparkling guitars interspersed with ambient movements borne on a shimmering drone. Butler’s use of subtle delay, reverb and chorus on his guitar creates a bejeweled sonic landscape that is dreamy and spacious. The titles of the songs reveal the strong connection these pieces have to the earth and skies: tracks either dense and layered or spacious and open.
Butler says of the compositions;
When I was recording ‘Spirits Flying Home’, I wanted to create an album that was a total guitar experience. As a solo player, I can be more dynamic and more expressive; the memories of some dearly departed friends and close musical collaborators were close at hand when I was working on this record, something in my subconscious that was part of the albums creation. I wanted ‘Spirits Flying Home’ to have a very personal feeling, as well as trying to have a sense of universal human themes of death and loss, the immensity of it all, of life.
The simple, raw crisp guitar strokes of the opening title track seems to hang in the air with grace and a haunting melody as ethereal solo guitars paints patterns above. ‘New Visions’ is again a simple pattern of yearning guitar chords, arpeggiated and emotive with a subtle tremolo twang. As a counterpoint, ‘Ancient Visions’ introduces a subtly harmonised drone that creates an evocative atmosphere, mysterious and absent of chords or notes: a mere presence of delicate tendrils of sound.
‘Night Lands’ returns to the delicate strumming and tremolo that shimmer and float in the ether. ‘Old As The Earth’ picks up the pace a little with chugging chords that flow swiftly and a fuzzy guitar lead. ‘Black As Space’ is another soundboard for atmospheric movements – a dark and ominous drone with layers of distant sounds. The album ends with the light airy and melodic ‘Came From The Sky’, an uplifting conclusion that ranges over nine minutes, building up to a crescendo as multiple guitars create shimmering layers, an amalgam of fuzzy, crunching distorted guitars, piercing soaring solos and arpeggiated trills.
‘Spirits Flying Home’ is out now and can be downloaded and streamed via all the usual sites and through the link below:
Butler will be showcasing the album at the fabulous George Lane on 24 May 2025 – details below.
Feature Photograph: Hayley Rose @hroseart
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