Butterfly Garden - 2022 - ...And Everybody Else

(42:20; Apollon Records)

Track list:
1. That Was Love 2:40
2. Mammon 2:50
3. Oh Tell Me Love 5:08
4. Sometimes 3:41
5. My God 3:17
6. Mountain 3:56
7. Remains the Same 3:56
8. Changing Changes for a Change 3:04
9. Just Overdo It 3:22
10. I'm a Liar 5:08
11. We Tried 5:18

Line-up:
Calle Hamre - vocals, guitars, percussion
Eirik Sejerstad Vognstölen - guitars
Rodrigo Lopez - keyboards
Cato Rasmussen Eikeland - bass
Trygve Knut Gulbrandsen - drums, percussion


Norwegian band Butterfly Garden started out back in 1990 or thereabouts, and was a feature in the Norwegian scene throughout most of the 1990's prior to entering a state of hiatus just prior to the millennium. The hiatus was broken a few years back however, and since 2017 the latest incarnation of Butterfly Garden has been working on material for a new album. "...and Everybody Else" is the result of that process, and the album was released in the spring of 2022 through Norwegian label Apollon Records.

Butterfly Garden is a band that explores music I'm really not all that familiar with as a writer. Just about all the songs do have a familiar feel to them however, but more in terms with music I have listened to with half an ear on the radio rather than the type of music I have become more intimately familiar with throughout my years as a reviewer. Hence my frame of references for the music here might be read with just a pinch of salt thrown in for good measure.

That being said, there's no question in my mind that this is material that has a much more commercial orientation than the majority of music that comes my way. The vocals are the key element throughout, and front man Calle Hamre has a very good voice and excellent vocal control to carry all the songs with his clear, calm, melodic and emotional delivery. A very appealing voice on all levels, one of those singers that to my mind will have something of a universal appeal.

As far as the music itself is concerned, we get lots of hooks and catchy arrangements here, sometimes with a driving energetic bassline moving the song onward and on other occasions with a tasteful or haunting guitar motif as more of the vital ingredient that grabs tour attention. In terms of style we have more rock than pop, although there are cases of more pop-oriented creations here too, and words like indie and alternative will probably be warranted here. I suspect post-Britpop might be a viable style summary here, as that apparently is an actual style of music and what I hear appears to fit the description I have seen of that style. In more detail I'd say that references to what has been described as britpop are present, and more or less subtle nods in the direction of power pop and new wave is a part of the totality too. Some of the songs give me associations to the earliest days of a band like Madrugada, others have a bit more of the melancholic as well as the fun and spirited feel of a band like REM. That gentle psychedelic rock details and what may be subtle noise rock elements pops up here and there is a part of the total picture too. In essence I find this to be quite a multifaceted album, but also one explored inside a rather radio and listener friendly context where the lead vocals are the most vital ingredient.

Well made, expressive and creative rock music with strong pop music sensibilities, a radio friendly expression and explored inside of an indie and alternative oriented context is perhaps the best way I can summarize my impressions of this album. A band and an album I'd suggest that people who enjoy REM just as much as Oasis and later 90's Manic Street Preachers should have a good chance of finding enjoyable, and in particular those in that audience segment that knows how to appreciate excellent vocals, strong hooks and well developed songs with layers of subtle details to immerse yourself in.

Olav M. Björnsen, May 2022

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/butterflygardenband
https://www.apollonrecords.no/