Name: Generations
Brand: Will Butler

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

MRG720LP

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: Yes

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2020-09-25

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

0673855072012

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

MRG720CD

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Download code: No

0673855072029

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Will Butler

Genre US

Rock-Pop

Label US

Merge Records

Rough Trade Transmissions

Will Butler is an American musician, born on 6 October 1982 in Texas, USA. He is best known as the brother of <en>Win Butler</en>. With a diverse range of influences and a unique musical style, Will has established himself as a talented artist in his own right.

His music draws inspiration from various genres, including indie rock, alternative, and post-punk. Fans of artists such as EL VY, Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Walkmen will find themselves drawn to Will's captivating sound.

With his solo work and collaborations with other musicians like Operators and Hamilton Leithauser, Will continues to push boundaries and create music that resonates with audiences worldwide. His contributions to the music industry have earned him critical acclaim and a dedicated fan base.

In the five years since Will Butler released his debut album, Policy, he’s toured the world both solo and as a member of Arcade Fire, released the Friday Night live album, recorded and released Arcade Fire’s international #1 album Everything Now, earned his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard, hosted a series of touring town halls on local issues (police contracts, prison reform, municipal paid sick leave, voting rights), and spent time raising his three children.

He also found the time and inspiration to write and record a new album, Generations. “My first record, Policy, was a book of short stories,” Butler says. “Generations is more of a novel despairing, funny, a little bit epic… A big chunk of this record is asking: What’s my place in American history? What’s my place in America’s present? Both in general as a participant, as we all are, in the shit that’s going down but, also extremely particularly: me as Will Butler, rich person, white person, Mormon, Yankee, parent, musician of some sort, I guess. What do I do? What can I do? The record asks that question over and over, even if it’s not much for answers.”

While the songs on Generations contain their fair share of dread and regret, there is ultimately a lightness that shines through Butler’s music. That brightness is at its most intense when he and his solo band Miles Francis, Sara Dobbs, and Julie and Jenny Shore perform on stage. Their electricity is palpable throughout Generations, with the bulk of the new songs having been worked out live. Wild synth production gnarly bass synths with live drums and anthemic backing vocals as on first single Surrender are punctuated by intimate, direct moments: Butler’s voice cracking on Fine as he conjures his ancestors, and Promised, a meditation on friendship, how lives are built together, and how and why they drift apart.

Generations was recorded and produced by Butler in the basement of his home in Brooklyn. Tracking finished in March 2020, as New York closed down for the pandemic. Half the record was mixed in Montreal by longtime Arcade Fire engineer Mark Lawson, the other half by Brooklyn-based producer Shiftee (who is, incidentally, bandmate Julie Shore’s husband and Will’s brother-in-law). Generations opens a dialogue with the world. It posits answers and deals with those answers being refuted. Ultimately, it navigates the conversation as a way to find the truth… or at least a way forward.

Generations

Music US

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