John Butler Trio - Flesh & Blood review

This sixth album might be John Butler's most well-rounded yet. There's plenty of songs from the sunnier side, but some of the strongest here are the contemplative tracks that run deeper.

Spring To Come is a mellow and melancholic fingerstyle opener, How You Sleep At Night rises and falls with emotive bite, and moody closer You're Free sounds like Trent Reznor and Peter Gabriel jamming with steel drums. Butler's way with a slide is still mighty, electrifying the excellent Cold Wind on a record that strikes a very satisfying balance of his musical strengths.

4 out of 5

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.