Friends and Lovers (album)

Friends and Lovers is the second and to date, most recent album from English singer-songwriter and musician Bernard Butler released in 1999.

Friends and Lovers
Studio album by
Bernard Butler
Released25 October 1999
RecordedRAK studios
GenreRock
Length50:13
LabelCreation
ProducerBernard Butler
Bernard Butler chronology
People Move On
(1998)		 Friends and Lovers
(1999)
Singles from Friends and Lovers
  1. "Friends and Lovers"
    Released: 20 August 1999
  2. "You Must Go On"
    Released: 6 October 1999
  3. "I'd Do It Again If I Could"
    Released: 20 February 2000 (U.S. only)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Dayton Daily NewsB-[2]
The Guardian[3]
NME6/10[4]
The Phoenix[5]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette[6]
PopMatters[7]
Q[8]
Sunday Herald[9]
The Times[10]

Background

The album is a lot different from his debut, displaying a more upbeat and pop-rock sound. Butler trimmed away the soft rock elements from People Move On, which used a lot of string instrumentation. Instead, Friends and Lovers sees Butler bring the guitar to the forefront of the musical output. Butler has described the record as: "More direct, more concise, no strings."[11] The album was recorded in London and Chipping Norton, and mixed in New York by Andy Wallace.[12]

David Simutis of Phoenix New Times concurred that the record is an upbeat affair. He wrote that "the main emotion captured on Friends & Lovers is happiness. From the up-tempo power chords, organ and handclaps of 'I'd Do It Again If I Could,' to the bouncing beat and guitar textures of 'What Happened to Me,' it's a powerful record of hope."[13]

Singles released from the album were "Friends and Lovers" and "You Must Go On". "You Must Go On" charted at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart.[14] The album had a delayed release on Columbia Records in the US the following year 1 February 2000.[15] The only US single release from the album, "I'd Do It Again If I Could" followed shortly after.[16]

Reception

Some critics saw it as a step forward from his debut. Sarah Zupko of PopMatters wrote: "Friends and Lovers is more anthemic and self-assured than People Move On, as though Butler has been steadily gaining confidence in himself as a frontman."[7] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic felt that Butler has greater focus on this record, however felt that the music needed "a larger-than-life personality, a vocalist on the level of Brett Anderson."[1]

Jay Hedblade of the Chicago Tribune had a more mixed sentiment, saying: "Bernard Butler offers more textured, palatable rock cast in a classic mode. Like his debut, People Move On, Butler demonstrates he's adept at building gorgeous mile-high melodies that hit all the right buttons, yet as agreeable as it is, there's still a nagging feeling that something's missing." Although he did say the album had "brilliant moments", he concluded by saying: "elsewhere Butler spends too much time waxing poetic without the verbal dexterity to hold up the grand nature of the tunes."[17]

The album was not a commercial success, this was mainly due to the breakup of Creation Records shortly before Butler was due to embark on a UK tour. As a result, the tour was cancelled and he was unable to fully complete his promotional duties for the album.[18] The album charted at number 43 on the UK Albums Chart.[14]

Track listing

All songs written by Bernard Butler.

No.TitleLength
1."Friends and Lovers"4:13
2."I'd Do It Again If I Could"3:26
3."Cocoon"4:17
4."Smile"4:02
5."You Must Go On"3:25
6."No Easy Way Out"4:26
7."Everyone I Know Is Falling Apart"4:18
8."What Happened To Me"3:18
9."Let's Go Away"4:03
10."Precious"3:54
11."Has Your Mind Got Away?" (feat. Neil Halstead)8:12
12."You'll Feel It When You're Mine"2:31
13."70 Miles" (bonus track on Japanese editions)4:23

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Friends and Lovers review". AllMusic.
  2. Kizirnis, Kathi (18 February 2000). "Recordings in Brief". Dayton Daily News. Cox Enterprises. Retrieved 24 June 2013 – via NewsBank.
  3. Sweeting, Adam (22 October 1999). "CD Releases". The Guardian. p. B17.
  4. Segal, Victoria (19 October 1999). "Friends And Lovers - He might have the last laugh, after all..." NME. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  5. Laban, Linda (3 February 2000). "Off The Record - Friends And Lovers". The Phoenix. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  6. Masley, Ed (11 February 2000). "New Discs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 118. Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Google News Archive.
  7. Zupko, Sarah. "Bernard Butler: Friends and Lovers". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
  8. Maconie, Stuart (December 1999). "He's found his niche and he's sticking to it". Q (159). Archived from the original on 23 January 2000. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  9. Virtue, Graeme (24 October 1999). "Friends And Lovers - Bernard Butler (Creation)". Sunday Herald. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018 – via HighBeam Research.
  10. Cowan, Amber (23 October 1999). "New album releases". The Times. p. 11.
  11. "The Butler Did It (Nearly)". NME. 18 January 1999. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  12. "The Butler Done It". NME. 6 June 1999. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  13. Simutis, David (3 February 2000). "Coming Up". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  14. "Artist Chart History: Bernard Butler". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  15. "Upcoming Releases". CMJ New Music Report. 61 (647): 33. 20 December 1999. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  16. "Reviews & Previews". Billboard. 112 (8): 24. 19 February 2000. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  17. Hedblabe, Jay (5 March 2000). "Bernard Butler Friends & Lovers (Columbia)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  18. "Butler to abandon stage for baize?". NME. 22 March 2000. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
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