John Butler Reveals He’s Recording A Solo Album Without The Trio

22 January 2024 | 10:41 am | Mary Varvaris

The announcement arrives after John Butler shared more cryptic recording clues in November.

John Butler

John Butler (Source: Supplied)

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John Butler is in the studio – without the trio.

He starts recording his new album (or what he dubbed “season three” in a recent Instagram post) today at the RADA Studios in Perth, Western Australia, with Pond multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer James Ireland and RADA’s Dan Carroll.

Butler’s set-up is an image of envy – twelve guitars, including two banjos, line the walls of the room inside RADA, with music production tools, drums, a piano, amplifiers and guitar pedals neatly organised throughout the space.

Announcing that he’s embarking on new solo music via Instagram, Butler wrote in the caption yesterday, “Back in the hood. The Compound RADA Studios. Recording of Season 3 (Solo Song Driven Album (full production, but not trio) starts tomorrow with James Ireland and Dan Carroll. Excited.”

You can check out the post below.

Butler shared more cryptic recording clues in November, hinting at “season one” – an ambient album – through a reel on social media. In that video, it looked like Butler was recording in KT Tunstall’s studio (of Suddenly I See fame). Those sessions saw him play “A LOT of guitar, banjo and lap steel”. Is John Butler working on more than one solo album?

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This April, Butler heads to the 3 Oceans Winery in Margaret River, Western Australia, to headline the Good Day Sunshine festival alongside The Cat Empire. Revealing his appearance at the festival, Butler wrote that he was “stoked” to perform, while The Cat Empire added that it’s “good to be back” in WA “with legends and friends” this year.

Last March, John Butler announced the release of his fifth live albumLive In Paris, which arrived with a triple vinyl and double CD release, recorded over two spectacular sold-out shows at the prestigious Le Trianon in Paris. 

“There were a lot of setbacks to get the European tour across the line, and a lot of hurdles to overcome to get this album recorded,” Butler admitted, after two postponements and a cancellation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added, “But we eventually got there. Good things take time, and I couldn’t think of a more beautiful part of the globe to have recorded it in or a better way to share it with the world. It was worth the wait.” You can buy a copy of Live In Paris here.