I Liked it Better When You Had No Heart By Butch Walker

Butch Walker has a reputation in the music industry that precedes his music to a lot of new aficionados. But, when approaching his melody making, the best way to sum it up is to say that he smoothly manages to sound like Jason Mraz would if he got together with The Beatles to record a duet somewhere in Nashville. It’s lilting and luscious and entirely pleasant.

While he’s fronted the alt-rock band Marvelous 3 and carved out a considerable niche as a solid songwriter, Walker has also released four solo studio albums and we now come to his fifth – I Liked You Better When You Had No Heart, an eleven track lullaby for your ears.

The album opens with the first single, “Trash Day,” that is a lovely, country-tinged tune with vocals that take a back seat to the song’s swinging melody. There are other songs on the album that might have more depth or hold a quieter charm than this, but “Trash Day” definitely wins on wide appeal and radio-friendliness.

The next track, “Pretty Melody,” is slightly mellower, but the symphonic snatches are something that artistic bands like Coldplay would be jealous of. Moving further down the mellow line, the song “Don’t You Think Someone Should Take You Home” is next. Here Walker turns talking about a lady who’s down on her luck in love and life into an intimate ditty that is softer and kinder than some of the most successful ballads even.

“She Likes Hair Bands” is a rockier tune, with hints of Weezer (who Walker has also written songs for) and lighter Everclear tunes. The consistent oscillating rhythm of the chorus, combined with the echoing of the country guitars in the background would make this a good second single. The track “They Don’t Know What We Know,” while lyrically different, carries a similar musical vibe.

And finally, “Be Good Until Then” closes the album off softly. The lyrics here are actually anthemic (“Never judge the color of a skin/never judge a person by the kin/never follow leaders that begin/behind some wall”) but because it features only Walker and his acoustic guitar on this track, it sidesteps the big, preaching vibe of some other anthems and becomes more of a personal mantra you’d like to hold close and play over again.

There’s not a lot of music to get your teeth into at first listen of I Liked You Better When You Had No Heart, and it runs the risk of becoming background music for some. But if you keep it on, Butch Walker’s fifth album will grow on you quite fantastically and you’ll learn to appreciate the music for all its subtlety.