Sometimes you just need to lie down and listen to something authentic and unpretentious that comes straight from one soul and goes directly to yours. Especially on rainy days.
And this is exactly what M. Butterfly II, the second album by M. Butterfly, proposes. Eight melancholic acoustic songs, with simple guitar instrumentation and introspective lyrics drawing inspiration from old blues, folk and americana with a slight touch of grunge. The album is due to be released on 20th January, one day before what has been described as the “most depressing day of the year”. A suitable date for a selection of songs which the Brighton-based singer-songwriter presents as “a collection of ruminations on extinction, sexuality, death and sacrifice”. The album was home-recorded to tape during the summer of 2018 and favours sparse arrangements to draw attention to the lyrics, which M. Butterfly regards as “the most important part of a song”. This approach gives the record an intimate and storytelling vibe, with poetic references (whilst listening to track 7, ‘Flowers from Hell’, I couldn’t help but thinking about Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil). My favourite song remains ‘Diamond Mist’, with its Mazzy-starresque feel and creaking sound effects reminiscent of Nick Drake. If lo-fi, sadcore and alternative folk is your vibe, don’t look further: this album will definitely touch you.
M. Butterfly II is available for pre-order via Bandcamp, both digitally and physically (CD with lyric book). Catch M. Butterfly live at the Green Door Store tomorrow, Wednesday 19th December, supporting vocalist-violinist Gaelynn Lea (NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest Winner 2016) for what should be a beautiful evening of honest and emotional songs.
One Fern Records 