Kevin Bronson on September 27th, 2016

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“Stay Gold,” the eighth album from Georgia native Butch Walker, feels just like that precious metal — sharp-tongued, hook-filled classic rock that wears like denim, strong on storytelling and relatable themes for his demographic (he’s in his mid-forties) and others. “Back problems, grey hair / craving a Porsche / But if you make it this far without killing yourself you got it made though,” he speak-sings in the single “East Coast Girl” before diving into a Boss-like chorus that won’t leave your head. The album in full is a remarkable change in tone from last year’s gorgeous, melancholy “Afraid of Ghosts,” which was produced by Ryan Adams and informed by the death of Walker’s father.

The new video for “East Coast Girl” is dark, too, but not in that way. Starring Michael Des Barres as a uniformed tyrant with a beautiful daughter, it follows Walker and crew on an ill-fated caper. There may or may not be some heavy symbolism here, but as Walker said of the songs on “Stay Gold” (which was released last month on Dangerbird Records), “All the stories are half true.

||| Watch: The video for “East Coast Girl”