Taking Wing

A Nashville native for the past 12 years, Adelaide-born Butterfly Boucher is a sassy, fresh and ambitious musical force despite her history of major label battles born largely of an inability to be tagged neatly as pop or indie. With the April release of her independent self-titled third album – an outstanding collection of pop, rock and electro moments all bound by an ear for melodic hooks and smart construction – Boucher's unwavering musical confidence brought her out the other side intact.  

“I'm still really proud of it actually,” says the 33-year-old, whose international journey started with the defunct '90s band The Mercy Bell. “I hadn't heard it for months because you know, you're playing your own songs every night and the last thing you want to do is actually hear the record. But actually Wally from Gotye – I did a show in Brooklyn and all those guys had a night off – came to the show and he came backstage later and he goes, 'Oh, I was really hoping you'd play Don't Look Now', and I was like, 'I haven't even thought to play that one live yet!' And I ended up listening through the whole album and it was almost like hearing it for the first time again, like I'd already forgotten how those songs sounded. And I was still really proud of it; I'm really happy with the textures and it kind of made me excited to make more music actually – I was, like, 'Oh yeah, right, this is good!'”

With no external pressures this time around, Boucher was free to make the album she wanted to make. “The kind of albums I enjoy are the ones that kind of have a bit of everything, yet not like it's not so eclectic that it's confusing – there should be some consistency with the sounds and all of that,” she ponders. “I really just wanted to make a really emotional album. And so if it was gonna be a sad song I wanted it to be kind of devastatingly sad; and then if it was happy, just go for it. I wanted to just make them extreme, just use the power of music – it can be so powerful and I just wanted to push that and push myself to go there… I didn't want to make a depressing album, you know – I'm not crazy about those kinds of albums. There's a time for them and there's a place for them but those don't seem to be what I naturally do. Personally I'm very aware of that and very purposefully put 5,6,7,8! at the front of the album because I wanted the first impression to be fresh and fun, not taking yourself too seriously…” she giggles.

An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, collaborator and producer, Boucher has seen a lot her home country this year whilst touring alongside Missy Higgins on bass to promote The Ol' Razzle Dazzle, as well being the support act of the tour. The pair's friendship began whey they each played Lilith Fair in 2010; co-writing turned into demoing, which turned into Boucher co-producing Higgins' record in Nashville. Their key co-write, Unashamed Desire, became Higgins' lauded comeback single, whilst Boucher's version was also released on her own album simultaneously. Out of courtesy she kept it out of her support slot, so she's understandably excited to be sharing it with audiences nationally this month.

“This will be an interesting thing to get back into a longer set and get my stamina back up, but it's gonna be fun,” she enthuses. “I'm really excited to try and bring the songs to life, bring it to the next level and make them pretty and fun and sad.”

Butterfly Boucher will be playing the following shows:

Thursday 8 November - Heritage Hotel, Bulli NSW
Friday 9 November - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
Sunday 25 November - Queenscliff Festival, Queenscliff VIC
Sunday 11 November - The Joynt, Brisbane QLD