Afraid of Ghosts

A high-level pop producer and “song doctor” whose client list includes Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, and P!nk, Butch Walker can seemingly write in any style he chooses. With The Marvelous 3, he hit in 1999 with “Freak of the Week,\" but his solo career has mostly settled for critical praise. Walker is now friends with Ryan Adams, who produced this set at his PAX-AM studio. The result is an album that sounds like the two of them blending into one person, with all the acoustic pathos (“Still Drunk”) of Adams’ best work colored by Walker’s songwriting expertise (“Chrissie Hynde”). It\'s less overtly catchy than expected, but there are gorgeous ballads throughout.

Walker spent a year writing the reflective Afraid of Ghosts, which was then recorded in just four days exactly one year after the passing of his father, Big Butch. With gritty hints of folk, pop and rock, the album weaves a journey through life, love, death and everything in between, highlighting Walker’s effortless skill with a melody. In addition to this talent as a songwriter, Walker is a captivating performer. In an acoustic video of the title track for Paste Magazine, Walker enchants the viewer using just a few piano chords and his distinctive voice.

Butch Walker is a rock ’n’ roll chameleon. The Georgia native began his career playing Southern-boogie hair metal and skinny-tie power-pop in the cult bands SouthGang and Marvelous 3, respectively, before becoming an on-demand producer for pop-punk and Top 40 acts, and a cheeky solo artist fond of homages to glam, new…

Butch Walker has been toiling away somewhere just outside the spotlight of rock & roll for the better part of two decades, eventually carving out a curious niche for himself.

Butch Walker - Afraid of Ghosts review: Take what scares you the most and turn it into something real.

The best country music and Americana albums of 2015, chosen by Culture Editor Martin Chilton unless stated.