The less-famous brother of Arcade Fire’s Win is a mean songwriter in his own right, as evinced by his recent adventure penning a song every day for the Guardian. The 32-year-old’s solo album offers more where those came from: eight songs, recorded inside three weeks, which raucously freewheel across the genres. Opener Take My Side is rumbustious Fall/La’s-style rockabilly; Anna and Something’s Coming are giant super-catchy electro funk; Finish What I Started is a slightly rueful piano ballad. They’re all terrific songs and – with the album title referring to Butler’s interest in how policy affects lives – he’s stuffed them with issues including God, money and armageddon, and tragicomic characters who yell things such as “Something’s coming, is it the end?/I don’t know, but it sure as hell ain’t the beginning.” Only Son of God audibly recalls Arcade Fire (via Talking Heads-type euphoric pop), but the younger, lesser-heralded Butler is entitled to have a skip in his step when that band next reconvene.
