Original Signal Recordings/Power Ballad
2008
Sycamore Meadows
About This Album
One year after California bushfires destroyed his home, Butch Walker returns to his solo career with Sycamore Meadows, a cathartic effort that melds ballads with anthems, heartland rock & roll with power pop, and solemn sincerity with tongue-in-cheek cheer. Walker is nothing if not a multi-tasker, having spent the bulk of 2008 in the production booth with artists like P!nk, Katy Perry, and the Automatic. Juggling those gigs with a solo career is no easy feat, and the fact that Sycamore Meadows is quite good -- solidly crafted throughout, with clever songwriting and spirited performances throughout -- is testament to the musician's wide-ranging talent. After jumpstarting the album with "The Weight of Her," a standout tune that molds Tom Petty's influence with glammy swagger, Walker peppers Sycamore Meadows with tales of his various homes, from the songwriter's native Georgia to the urban enclaves of Los Angeles and Brooklyn. Hollywood is deemed "a town made of glitter girls and cocaine friends," Atlanta is evoked during "Ponce De Leon Ave" (whose '70s-styled groove makes room for a horn section), and "Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car, Thought of You" confines its geography to the outside of a lover's house, trading the specificities of Walker's other songs for a more universal approach.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4 and 5)

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