Spring Break
Treat Yo Self, Yo Mama with John Butler Trio
Emily Beaulac
Issue date: 10/22/04 Section: Entertainment
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her butler is a maid
What You Want, released by The John Butler Trio on Lava Records, is a six-song EP, initially released in the United States, and soon to be followed by a full-length album in the spring of 2005.
Three of the songs were unreleased until now, and the remaining three include previous John Butler Trio songs such as a country funk version of "Treat Yo Mama," originally off the album, Sunrise Over Sea. The EP also includes a moving remake version of the John Lennon and Paul McCartney song "Across the Universe."
The first song on the EP, also the title track, incorporates a string section as well as harmonies with John Butler and his wife Danielle Caruana. The songs on What You Want show the array of different sounds and musical genres John Butler is capable of. The EP includes the sounds of rock, reggae, funk and blues with a touch of soul. For John Butler, every new thing he tries musically sounds good and meshes well to make great music that most people can enjoy.
The songs on the album are upbeat and slightly uplifting, gentle and moving. Australia's John Butler, born in L.A., is sometimes described as "hippie," and sends out a semi-political message on the song "Something's Gotta Give." On the track he says, "I was reading the newspaper just yesterday. Got the headlines reading 'God bless the U.S.A.' and I thought God bless everyone. God bless the people in New York when they were attacked, God bless the children being bombed in Iraq..."
The EP What You Want is musically well done, showing the true talent of the trio, which is rare to find in music these days. With just six songs, it is proven that The John Butler Trio has the ability to put out unique music with a taste of many different genres, and is able to do it live in addition to in the studio.
The final track on the EP, "Betterman," is a live version of the song and exemplifies the amazing variety of sounds the band can pull off to create incredible music. Listening to What You Want is enough to make one extremely anxious to hear the full-length album this spring.
Rating: 5 triangles
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