Recently Chicago’s International Anthem has been getting a lot of airplay here – the likes of Makaya McCraven, Jeff Parker, Ben LaMar Gay, Alabaster DePlume and Angel Bat Dawid have been giddily expanding my musical universe. A gauge of influence is the mixtapes on here, and their impact can be heard on the KLOF and Lost in Transmission series. As often happens, one artist’s work leads to another, especially in this progressive field of champions. Beat scientist McCraven (son of jazz drummer Stephen McCraven) released Universal Beings in 2018. Among the many names featured was Anna Butterss, whose virtuoso bass-playing musicianship won me over straight away.
Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Butterss has now stepped into the limelight as the bassist-turned-songwriter, offering up her electro-acoustic opus Activities (Colorfield Records July 8) on which she plays upright and electric bass, guitar, piano, Rhodes, analog and digital synths, drums, drum programming, percussion, flute, and vocals. Joining her are collaborators Josh Johnson, Ben Lumsdaine, and Christian Euman to flesh out her compositions.
Today she has revealed her latest album single and video Doo Wop, a groovy Jeff Parker-inspired tune built of vocal samples from choir arrangements she sang in high school. As she proves here, her charm and magic lie as much in her keen ear as her musical virtuosity.
Here’s Anna on the song:
Doo Wop came out of a lockdown challenge I set myself, which was to take samples from vocal jazz arrangements that I had sung in high school choir and turn them into songs that I would want to listen to today. The demo I had was pretty bare-bones when I brought it into the studio – mostly just the bass line, sample and a drum loop, so we replaced everything, re-recorded and changed the sample and built it up from there. A big musical inspiration (and collaborator and friend) of mine is Jeff Parker, and I think you can hear his influence coming through in some of the guitar parts here.
Watch the accompanying video by Dustin Laurenzi:
These songs on Activities were created through a process of improvisation, processing, and layering are deeply personal to Butterss, a collection of reflections on life in a foreign country, grief, and family.
Activities is released on Colorfield Records July 8th and can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp: https://annabutterss.bandcamp.com/
Pre-Save: https://annabutterss.lnk.to/DooWop