Album Review: Will Butler-Policy

Not Much Of A Departure












Will Butler-Policy 5.7/10









The Butler's have been consistently making a huge splash in the indie/alt rock music for the last decade or so. Win and Will are in a band called Arcade Fire which has produced some of the most popular as well as the most powerful albums of the last 10 years. This band's has meant so much to me and many others over the years and I am truly glad to have them in my life. When I heard Will would be doing a solo project I was skeptical, but excited to see how his work would stand out from his work with the band. I am sad to say, I do not think it sticks out much at all. Don't get me wrong, the man can write a song, and a lot of the songs on here have a cool political theme to them (see title of album), but I still think Will is a little all overt the place on here.

First off, Will uses that classic Butler croon in his voice a lot on this album. I don't really have a problem with this when Win Butler does it, but Will is simply not as good of a singer. He is not as powerful, and overall he should use this element more sparingly. My second big complaint about this thing is that there are a lot of half-assed songs on here. The opening track sounds like any other bluesy indie jam, I'm sorry, but I do not need to hear this again, especially not from a very talented musician. Something's Coming is also crazily forgettable, and Sing To Me is a good idea, but it is too repetitive and it simply cannot hold on after a very short amount of time. The closer also is pretty lackluster. It is driving and grooving, but it does not have much going for it after that. For what seems to be a thematic piece to the album, it is not very coherent to me at least.

This album is not without its moment though. Anna has got a some catchy synth and bass leads very reminiscent of Reflektor (the last Arcade Fire album). This album sees a lot more instrumental progression, and it also sees Butler's songwriting at its peak as well. This track feels as big as Arcade Fire, and is truly a milestone accomplishment for Butler. What I want is another great track with a powerful guitar riff. This one really reminded me of The Suburbs, especially in the lyrics. It seems to cover a lot about the suburban "needs" or attitudes of our society today. Overall this is a smart song that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This album has a lot of variety, but not a lot of punch. Frankly, if this album does anything, it shows that Will Butler can't quite live up to his brother's reputation. Will sounded like he was trying to do way too much to be effective, in result he lost the thread that tied this album together. Overall, I am not going to rule out a successful solo career for Will Butler, but this one just doesn't do it for me.