After more than forty years in the spotlight, fans of Chris Butler have got a pretty good idea what to expect from him.
Butler has earned himself a reputation as one of the most forthright and funny lyricists around, and his studio provocation has won him the respect of creative, risk-taking recording artists around the country. He helped kick-start the Akron sound with Tin Huey, he turned surf-rock expectations upside-down with Purple k’niF, and as the songwriter and guitarist of The Waitresses, he penned a holiday favourite (‘Christmas Wrapping’) and an eternally relevant pop-rock classic (‘I Know What Boys Like’).
The cheekily-titled ‘Got It Togehter !’, is Butler’s latest collection of experiments, wry commentaries, skewed art-pop songs, and undeniable melodies.
‘Summer Money’, his latest single, is a seasonal psych-pop singalong with a guitar solo as warm as a July day. The track comes with a twist however: he’s not just celebrating the warm weather, he’s also anticipating the harsh Ohio winter to come.
The accompanying lyric video, animated by Louise Wili, sees the screen flooded with warm summertime yellows and icy January blues and greys, and the frames decorated with kaleidoscopic arrays of flower petals and ice cream cones. The emphasis is on the words – as it should be – and Wili finds clever places in the illustrations for each couplet. The result is a celebration of a songwriter who has always kept us enlightened and entertained in equal measure.
Find out more about Chris Butler on his Twitter account. You can watch the video for ‘Summer Money’ below:
