Fusing smouldering intensity with existential exploration, the latest track Visiting Hours from Aussie rock legends The Butterfly Effect continues the quartet’s passionate journey towards the release of their long-awaited fourth studio album: the aptly titled IV, with the official release date today unveiled to be September 2. An emphatic anthem that harks back to earlier Butters territory while staunchly showcasing the group’s ongoing evolution, Visiting Hours is another triumphant peek into the brand new LP that will arrive 14 years after its predecessor, 2008’s The Final Conversation of Kings.
With a stacked national tour also on the cards from late September into October, the band’s first full tour since 2019, fans can catch old and new favourite tunes across the country, with Ben Hall, Clint Boge, Glenn Esmond and Kurt Goedhart, aka The Butterfly Effect, bringing local heavies Thornhill and Caligula’s Horse along for the ride, kicking off in Cairns at Tanks Art Centre on September 30 before hitting Townsville, Mackay, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne and Adelaide before bringing proceedings to a close in Fremantle on October 16. And for fans in Melbourne who missed out on tickets to the sold out October 14 show at Northcote Theatre, The Butterfly Effect have also confirmed a second Melbourne show at Northcote Theatre set for October 13. For tickets and information, head to www.thebutterflyeffectband.com.au.
Visiting Hours unfurls with haunting guitar work courtesy of axe-man Kurt before steadily building a world of melodic beauty and oscillating beats around frontman Clint’s raw yet intimate vocals. A dark, brooding and, ultimately, optimistic outing that draws inspiration from the likes of Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Tori Amos and Kate Bush, Visiting Hours showcases an assured and steady technicality from the Brisbane quartet, with the occasional heavier textures signposting the band’s rockstar status alongside sparser moments juxtaposing previous riff-heavy singles like Nil By Mouth and So Tired. An instant and unmistakable The Butterfly Effect opus, Visiting Hours holds a special place for the band while lyrically traversing life and the human condition, as Clint explains, “It feels amazing as always to be releasing new music and I really think this song is one of our best. To me it is about our eternal search for meaning and worth. It’s about the human condition and an existential crisis that faces us all, but at the same time as asking questions it has an undertone of hope and I hope that resonates with everyone that listens to it.” Echoing Clint’s sentiments, bass player Glenn shares, “This is probably my favourite of the new songs. I’ve loved this tune ever since we first demoed it back in 2009. I’m so excited that everyone’s going to finally get a chance to hear it. All of us in the band have acutely felt the passing of time, and I think Clint’s words reflect this. Our time here, as people and as artists, is very fleeting. Life is delicately impermanent and we’re never guaranteed a second chance.”
Fans can look forward to a healthy mix of new Butters tunes alongside plenty of fan favourites when The Butterfly Effect take to stages to celebrate IV later this year, and the band themselves couldn’t be more excited to make their way around Australia armed with their brand new album. Of the upcoming shows, Clint says, “I’m excited about all the shows from the smaller stages in the north where it’s up close and super personal to the bigger stages and bigger rooms down south, it’s going to be great getting back out there”. And while fans are already ecstatic about the impending tour, with the original Melbourne date already sold out and a second one jumping in for good measure, the band can’t wait to hit the road, as Glenn concludes, “I’m most excited about playing fantastic new songs. The familiar faces of fans that have been supporting us for so long. The camaraderie with the crew and the other guys in the band. Life can be pretty busy, and the opportunities to socialise and hang out seem to get fewer as we get older. Beers, shit talk, fried food from the servo, I am going to enjoy every moment”.
