The John Butler Trio - April Uprising

"Free, melodic, funky, phat and rocking" is how John Butler describes April Uprising, the Aussie roots-rocker's first new studio album in three years arriving on these shores April 6 via new U.S. label home ATO. With new backing players on board -- drummer Nicky Bomba and bassist Byron Luiters -- The John Butler Trio remains a marvel of lanky, rough-and-ready interplay, intelligent music that still manages to land a powerful punch. Or as Butler says of lead single "One Way Road, "not too contrived or cerebral." Over the course of four albums in twelve years, Butler and band have burnished their reputation as a tour-de-force live where the trio's raw but tightly tuned songs can stretch out with the improvisational feel of a funky jam band-styled power trio.

"There’s definitely a certain attitude that comes across on the album," says Butler. "Perhaps there’s a conviction, in a song writing and production sense, that I haven’t tapped into so much on earlier works that seems to be more prevalent on April Uprising." A spin of new track "One Way Road" taps into what Butler describes as "pretty much most of my musical influences: dancehall, roots & rock" with a scorching slide guitar line leading into a relentless rhythm overdrive and lyrics that spill out wrapped in a flurry of island-tinged singing. Watch the "One Way Road video after the jump. A brief five city U.S. tour begins February 11.

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John Butler Trio - "One Way Road" (from the album April Uprising)

From ATO:

April Uprising

To be released April 6, 2010, John Butler returns with his first album in three years. The album finds the multi-platinum Australian artist with a new line up and a new label in the states–yours truly, ATO Records. April Uprising, Butler’s most focused, diverse and accessible album to date has already yelded a No. 1 song on the Australian airplay charts with its first single, “One Way Road.”

 April Uprising’s spirit of renewel and rebirth is the culmination of an especially momentous period in his life. It began with the seemingly innocuous act of cutting his hair and taking a few months off in late 2008. But it was his appearance on the Australian TV series, Who Do You Think We Are (which takes well-known artists and traces their family trees) that turned out to be a life-changing experience, leading him on the personal and spiritual journey that inspired this album. Butler began his voyage hoping to find poets, musicians, and revolutionaries in his past. Instead, he traced his name through generations of hardship to a matriarch who sang for her survival; he traced his Bulgarian ancestry to a forbearer caught up in a violent revolt. Getting to know his ancestors–trailblazers, idealists, and bona fide revolutionaries–helped him build a profound sense of his passions as a writer and musician.

Between the epic opening track, “Revolution,” and a whispered acoustic coda, “A Star is Born,” dedicated to John’s son, April Uprising is an album that combines the personal, the political, and the musically memorable with skill and passion.