DOWNLOAD: The Butterfly Explosion - "Closer" from Lost Trails
DOWNLOAD: The Butterfly Explosion - "Chemistry" from Lost Trails

The Butterfly Explosion is a post-rock band out of Dublin, Ireland whose music ranges from shoegazer alt-rock (Ride and My Bloody Valentine are immediate comparisons) to epic post-rock instrumental pieces (here the comparison is to bands like Sigur Ros, Tortise and Explosions in the Sky). Having released two well received EPs over the last few years, The Butterfly Explosion released their first full length, Lost Trails (Revive Records), in the US earlier this month.

The 11-track/60 minute disc shows the band's songwriting continuing to mature. The songs average five minutes in length which gives the band time to develop expansive soundscapes. Fuzzy waves of guitars rise, fall and crash into exploding choruses; all of which are complemented by subtle and delicate keyboards and soaring, emotive vocals. The lyrics are clear but somewhat vague in nature which adds another dimension to the overall package that is The Butterfly Explosion. While there are some stand-out singles ("Closer", "Chemistry", "Crash/...see you on the other side"), there are also a number of all-instrumental songs that seem to serve as "mood pieces" within the context of the overall album and don't necessarily stand on their own. As such, this is the sort of disc that you are going to want to listen to start-to-finish.

You aren't going to find Lost Trails playing on a happy hour jukebox but there is more-than-enough depth to the music to keep it from floating away.

Here is a recent live video for "Carpark" which is a sweeping, post-rock (think Explosions in the Sky) instrumental.



The Butterfly Explosion's current US tour kicks off tonight at The Khyber in Philadelphia.

Here are the upcoming dates on the current tour:

Mar. 13 (Sat) -- The Khyber, Philadelphia
Mar. 14 (Sun) -- Pianos, NYC
Mar. 15 (Mon) -- Cameo Gallery, Brooklyn
Mar. 16 (Tues) -- The Abbey, Chicago
Mar. 17 (Wed) -- Habana Calle 6, SXSW, Ausin (10PM)
Mar. 18 (Thur) -- Rusty Spurs, SXSW, Ausin (12PM)
Mar. 19 (Fri) -- BD Rileys, SXSW, Ausin (1PM)
Mar. 21 (Sun) -- Red 7, SXSW, Ausin Goodbye South-By party (4:45pm) featuring Rival Schools, Junius and more

Links:
The Butterfly Explosion