Recently Reviewed:

The Neighbourhood
I Love You.

Iron Man 3: Heroes Fall
Various Artists

Paramore
Paramore

Sycamore Meadows marks Butch Walker’s first independent release, it’s only fitting that this might also be Walker’s most personal album he’s written to date. Sycamore Meadows was inspired largely by the losses that Walker experienced when his house was burned during the California wildfires in the summer of 2007, the title of the album even bares the name of the street of Walker’s former residence. The album is a sharp contrast to his previous release “The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker,” this album falls more in line with 2004’s “Letters” considered by many to be Walker’s best work. The album opens with the single “The Weight of Her,” a rare upbeat track on the record. The album then goes into “Going Back/Going Home,” a bluesy acoustic driven track the closes nicely with an autobiographical summary of Walkers career. Walker then starts to really open up on “Here Comes The” and “Ships In a Bottle” both heartfelt soaring tracks that rival some of the best work that Walker has done. The album closes with Walkers most personal song on the album, the track “ATL.” Walker shows his vulnerabilities like never before on this emotion filled track, making it easily one of the most stirring songs Walker has ever written. While it may not quite reach the emotional intensity of his masterpiece “Letters,” Sycamore Meadows is on par with some of Walker’s best work to date.