Album Review: John Butler Trio - Flesh & Blood

The sweet acoustic guitar that drifts over the first 30 seconds of Spring To Come, the opening song from John Butler Trio's newest offering Flesh & Blood, has come three months too late. This is a song – and an album – that deserved the entire summer for lovers and friends to listen to, rather than just the final month or two.

Of course, it's not all laid-back folk music; Butler's fingers leave a trail of blood with electric riffs like that on Livin' In The City and Cold Wind, and whenever he takes the opportunity to solo, he does it with talent to spare.

Six albums into his career, Butler has come a long way from the Fremantle streets where he began busking. Byron Luiter is again his right hand man on bass, with Nicky Bomba playing the majority of the album on drums (Bomba recently moving on to focus on the Melbourne Ska Orchestra, and being replaced by Grant Gerathy).

The vibe of his earlier, earthier albums has dissipated somewhat, with more of a focus this time around on relationships (Bullet Girl and Young And Wild being two obvious examples) and loss (Wings Are Wide is an ode to Butler's late grandmother).

Flesh & Blood is instantly recognisable as a JBT record, but there's enough diversity in it to keep the listener singing along to all 11 songs. After so long, it's testament to Butler that he can still sound so fresh.