John Butler - Running River (2024)

After Butler’s release of his seventh studio album HOME and the subsequent global touring, tumultuous times lay ahead. Not only had the world been through it with Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but his own world was turned upside down with the loss of his father, the disbanding of the Trio, the continuation of personal anxiety and weariness from years of being on the road away from family.

The recording of his next studio album proved difficult, with Butler fighting to produce and engineer the album himself, diving deeper into a world that was technologically challenging and not proving productive. The harder he tried, the further he pushed, the more lost he became.

In the crash of things falling apart, came true surrender. That was the beginning of everything making sense, and the birth of his new phase of music - The Four Seasons. These ‘seasons’, each earmarked by an album, represent four different but connected musical journeys.

The first, Running River, is an ambient journey of relaxation and meditation. The second season will be an instrumental offering that harks back to John’s days busking on the streets of Fremantle, the third is a solo song-driven studio recording. The fourth and closing season will be a return to working with a band.

Running River, out May 24, is a whole different side to Butler - a journey of healing. Fans of his classic and ever-evolving masterpiece “Ocean” will already know the power and emotion of Butler’s instrumentals and Running River takes this to another level.