Counting Crows, unlike many of their contemporaries, haven’t churned out endless studio albums since debuting with their huge-selling ‘August and Everything After’ in 1993. Over a near thirty-year span, the band has put out seven studio albums, a greatest hits compilation and several live albums. Their last album, ‘Somewhere Under Wonderland’, was released in 2014 and fans have had a lengthy wait for a follow-up. That wait was largely down to frontman Adam Duritz taking a break from music. As he told me in our recent interview, he just hadn’t felt like playing piano for a while until the idea for the band’s new project started to form.
The end result of his latest creative spurt is ‘Butter Miracle Suite One’, a four-track suite that’s simultaneously nothing like the band has done before but also familiar in all the right places. The 19-minute body of work plays as a continuous suite so it’s a real shame that ‘Elevator Boots’ was chopped out of it for use as a single. Hearing it out of the sequence really doesn’t do it justice and fans won’t understand how it’s supposed to be consumed, until they hear it in its rightful place as the second song in ‘Butter Miracle Suite One’.
The suite kicks off with ‘The Tall Grass’, and once Duritz’s vocal arrives less than 20 seconds in, you’ll get those goosebumps that only he can give you. The first 90 seconds of ‘The Tall Grass’ makes you think you’re in for an acoustic ballad, with a light electro-feel, but then the track transforms into a completely different beast as Duritz’s voice increases in intensity, with the heartbreaking lyrics telling of the long-term damage childhood trauma can have. As the song begins to wind down, a piano melody takes over as ‘Elevator Boots’ begins and Duritz delivers an ode to loving rock’n’roll. It’s packed with affection and harks back to the sound that made the band a global phenomenon.
‘Angel of 14th Street’ ups the tempo a little and for me, it’s the finest of the four songs here. Duritz tells the story of a woman who moves from California to New York. The song draws parallels with Duritz’s personal journey and his own struggles with mental illness. The backing vocals an injection of soul and the whole thing is produced to perfection. You need to put headphones on and crank up the volume to really appreciate everything that’s going on. Also who doesn’t love a sax solo?
‘Bobby and the Rat-Kings’ is ushered in by a huge guitar solo and finds Duritz embracing his inner Jim Steinman. The song sounds like it could have been recorded during Steinman’s ground-breaking work with Meat Loaf. The rock influence is front and centre as the lyrics explore being a music fan, and the backing vocals add depth. The middle of the song breaks down to a piano melody and it’s another goosebump moment as Duritz unleashes that grit and emotion his voice possesses.
Counting Crows have always operated in their own league and they continue to do so with ‘Butter Miracle Suite One’. The collection is a reminder of just how good the band is when they’re on top form and this is the best music they’ve released in a while. The 19 minutes whizz by but thankfully there’s so much in there to unpack, you’ll need to have plenty of listens to fully appreciate it. With a potential ‘Suite Two’ in the future, I’m already keeping everything crossed that it becomes a reality.
Track listing: 1. The Tall Grass 2. Elevator Boots 3. Angel of 14th Street 4. Bobby and the Rat-Kings Record label: BMG Release date: 21st May 2021 Buy ‘Butter Miracle Suite One’ EP now
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