Scottish singer-songwriter Rory Butler is to release his new album ‘Window Shopping’ on July 10th 2020. Below, you can watch the video for his first single ‘Tell Yourself’ which will be released tomorrow (April 24th) and is available to pre-save/pre-order here: https://verticalrecords.ffm.to/tellyourself.opr
Upon listening to Tell Yourself, it comes as no surprise that Rory Butler had been invited to play at the John Martyn gathering by Danny Thompson and the family of Ralph McTell. Butler quotes Martyn as one of his greatest inspirations, an influence that clearly filters through his music – both in that Scottish vocal and in his exceptional guitar work.
In fact, he played support to Bella Hardy at a gig in 2013 that we reviewed in which our reviewer noted he was one to watch for. “Mention must be made of support act for the evening, Rory Butler as the young Scot is in fine voice. …his guitar playing is excellent too, having a real percussive snap and dexterous, melodic syncopation. He warms to the task through an eight-song set and seems to grow in confidence on the evidence of his banter between songs. His seven originals and version of James Taylor’s Machine Gun Kelly have the audience’s attention, silently absorbing every note with generous applause greeting each songs climax. He’s one to watch out for surely.”
Influences aside, Butler has his own unique style and conveys a sense of clever wit, both lyrically and musically on this album. Even the album title ‘Window Shopping’ seems an apt term for how many see the world today…flashing past us, detached from reality. On his first single, he touches on our flaws and those closest to us…he subtly pushes home his message with upbeat melodies, and there’s that constant underlying reminder to pause and reflect – of that need to stay connected. One thing is sure, his eyes are very wide open.
Rory Butler on Tell Yourself:
‘I have had the good fortune of being surrounded by understanding people. Without people close to us that accept our flaws, or are even fond of them, we would be lost. The song was written remembering that.
‘We had a bit of a laugh at this one when in the studio. We were instinctively throwing in extra bars and beats. It was a lot of fun to hear Matt Ingram open the track up with his percussion. I’m sure he was hitting a jaw bone at one point.
‘The video by Cameron Watt is really special. Cameron lives in Sweden but we know each other from our roots in Dumfriesshire. I’ve loved his painting for years, and asked him on a whim if he’d be interested in painting the album sleeve. It’s fantastic. It was an easy decision to ask him to do an animation for the first single. Working with Cameron was very much like working with the band. Everyone just does what they do and hopefully whatever comes out is something memorable. I think it has been, I’m really lucky to have him on board.’
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