Butterfly Boucher - Scary Fragile
(Audio CD)

Price check

Amazon Marketplace		$5.95
Amazon		$11.99
Best Buy		$11.99
Borders.com		$13.99

Description

Given the circumstances surrounding Butterfly Boucher's sophomore album, it's a small wonder that it sounds so fresh. Although released in 2009, SCARY FRAGILE is an older album, recorded in the midst of Boucher's label troubles and finished long before she extricated herself from two contracts. Even so, it's hard to view this as anything but a happy cry of independence, and it's a happily melodic cry at that. Boucher blazes an independent trail by playing most of the instruments herself, stopping only at the drums, which are handled by Shawn Pelton. The resulting material bounds between swaggering alt rock--replete with fuzz bass and layered guitars--and nuanced pop songs, with stacked harmonies and buoyant melodies creating a bridge between both camps. Boucher also betrays a slight Lilith Fair influence, having toured with Sarah McLachlan while many of these songs were being written, but SCARY FRAGILE is more experimental than most albums from the Lilith era, boasting a range of genres only rivaled by McLachlan herself. Throw in some smart production by David Kahne, who runs Boucher's voice through a number of effects pedals, and SCARY FRAGILE emerges as the songwriter's best work to date, regardless of the circumstances that spawned it.