John Butler Trio: Three

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Pitched somewhere between Chris Whitley and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, dreadlocked Australian singer/guitarist Butler is often described as a bluesman, but his band has shared the bill with Oasis, Powderfinger, Pacifier and Grinspoon.

His music, and his political agenda, is bigger than the blues and he has clearly found a niche on outdoor rock bills while being able to pull back on the power punch for smaller gigs.

This impressive third album offers a fat and diverse collection of material which slips easily from slide guitar-driven rockers through finger-picking blues. It sometimes has a Jeff Buckley-like grandeur and reach (the driving eight minutes of Take with dulcimer), but can also take you to private places (Life Ain't What It Seems with Butler on acoustic guitar and lapsteel and drummer Jason McGann on Hammond organ).

Butler is also a sensitive guy - on Betterman he leaves the woman because he isn't good enough for her, and on Money rails against uranium mining.

Propelled by the powerful and melodic drumming of McGann, some of the material (the six-minute Attitude, the 14-minute instrumental Foundation) soars on deeply felt emotions, or delivers its messages with a blunt-instrument directness (Media). But everywhere you realise Butler is a man with something to say and a road-tested band to back him and his muscular guitar work. Recommended.

Label: MGM/Global Routes