John Butler Returns with PRISM — A Candid and Powerful New Solo Album On Loss, Fighting For Love and Starting Over (Out September 5)

Extensive Summer U.S. Tour Alongside Dispatch, Donavon Frankenreiter, G. Love & Special Sauce and Illiterate Light Starts June 3, Includes Red Rocks, NYC’s Rooftop at Pier 17, Ravinia + More; Intimate Nashville Headline Shows May 31, June 1

Watch / Listen To New Single “So Sorry”

Media assets are available here

May 28, 2025 - - Singer, songwriter and activist John Butler, one Australia’s most successful independent artists and biggest exports ever, has announced his new solo album PRISM (September 5, Jarrah Records / MGM). The 12 original new songs were formed in the wake of personal tumult and loss, and a creative rejuvenation that led to some of the most candid, poignant and powerful work of Butler’s storied two-decade career. Today’s announcement arrives with “So Sorry,” a new single and corresponding in-studio performance video. Watch/listen here. 

On “So Sorry,” Butler reflects: “Long relationships end up having a lot of water under the bridge. We end up saying and doing things we live to regret. You get together as ‘kids’ and, if you’re lucky, you learn how to regulate and become adults together. But no one gets out unscathed.”

PRISM marks a bold new chapter for Butler — a formal departure from the John Butler Trio and a return to the one-man-band spirit that launched his career. PRISM is the third installment in a four-volume project entitled Four Seasons. Inspired by a long fascination with New Age music, he spent 10 days in a studio creating meditative music that led to 2024’s Running River, 100 minutes of gentle rhythms and expansive tones. The second installment would be Still Searching, six instrumentals featuring Butler’s virtuosic guitar work, a vital album that brought him back to his earliest days of making music. The table was set for PRISM, a return to lyrics and singing, faster tempos and louder songs - but the tracks Butler had been working on didn’t sit right. It was as if he overlooked the elemental nature of Running River and Still Searching, so he scrapped everything, and started over.  

Butler teamed up with producer James Ireland, a stalwart of the vibrant Aussie indie music scene (Pond, San Cisco), during a period that Butler describes as an “existential breakdown” which included the passing of his father, and his father-in-law, and technical problems that rendered his home studio unusable. After two decades of near constant touring, he was nearly ready to throw in the towel. But what followed in his new sessions is an urgent work from an artist with a lot to say. “It’s a big life, and the world — in many ways — is in turmoil,” Butler explains. “Personally, I did a lot of soul-searching as this record took shape. PRISM is a cathartic release and a celebration of going solo. It reflects the full bandwidth of human emotion — love, death, politics, turmoil, and redemption.” The songs on PRISM double down on Butler’s longstanding activism, cope with his father’s passing, and explore reconciliation and what it takes to fight for love.    

With a newly assembled band featuring original John Butler Trio drummer Michael Barker, alongside Michael Boase (percussion) and Ian Peres (bass/keys), Butler is set to bring the songs of PRISM and beloved hits from his catalog on an extensive tour across the U.S. this summer, playing alongside Dispatch, G. Love & Special Sauce, Donavon Frankenreiter and Illiterate Light. Butler will kick things off with two special headlining shows at the Basement East in Nashville on May 31 and June 1. See below for the full itinerary, and purchase tickets here. 

PRISM is now available for pre-order: https://ffm.to/jb-prism 

PRISM TRACKLISTING

1. Going Solo

2. King Of California

3. Gets No Better

4. So Sorry

5. The Way Back

6. Doing Just Fine

7. Hand In Mine

8. Trippin On You

9. Outa My Head

10. Let Yourself Go

11. Leave The Rest To Earth

12. Wings To Fly

TOUR DATES:

May 31, 2025 The Basement East - Nashville, TN

Jun 1, 2025 The Basement East - Nashville, TN

Jun 3, 2025 The St. Augustine Amphitheatre - St. Augustine, FL +

Jun 5, 2025 Coca-Cola Roxy - Atlanta, GA +

Jun 6, 2025 Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre - Charlotte, NC +

Jun 7, 2025 Red Hat Amphitheater - Raleigh, NC +

Jun 8, 2025 Live Oak Bank Pavilion - Wilmington, NC +

Jun 10, 2025 Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront - Richmond, VA +

Jun 12, 2025 The Dome - Virginia Beach, VA +

Jun 13, 2025 Firefly Distillery - North Charleston, SC +

Jun 14, 2025 Asheville Yards Amphitheater - Asheville, NC +

Jun 17, 2025 The Andrew J Brady Music Center - Cincinnati, OH +

Jun 18, 2025 Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park - Indianapolis, IN + 

Jun 19-21, 2025 Summerfest - Milwaukee, WI

Jun 21, 2025 Ravinia Festival - Highland Park, IL +

Jun 22, 2025 Surly Brewing Festival Field - Minneapolis, MN *

Jun 24, 2025 Saint Louis Music Park - Maryland Heights, MO +

Jun 26, 2025 Meadow Brook Amphitheatre - Detroit, MI +

Jun 27, 2025 Evans Amphitheater – Cain Park - Cleveland Heights, OH +

Jun 28, 2025 The Met - Philadelphia, PA +

Jun 29, 2025 Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater - Bridgeport, CT +

Jul 1, 2025 The Rooftop at Pier 17 - New York, NY +

Jul 3, 2025 Thompson's Point - Portland, ME +

Jul 4, 2025 Stone Pony Summer Stage - Asbury Park, NJ +

Jul 5, 2025 Wolf Trap - Vienna, VA +

Jul 24, 2025 Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Amphitheater - San Diego, CA +

Jul 25, 2025 The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan - Las Vegas, NV +

Jul 26, 2025 The Pacific Amphitheatre - Costa Mesa, CA +

Jul 27, 2025 The Masonic - San Francisco, CA +

Jul 28, 2025 Revolution Hall - Portland, OR

Jul 31, 2025 Hayden Homes Amphitheater - Bend, OR +

Aug 1, 2025 Marymoor Live - Redmond, WA +

Aug 2, 2025 The Festival at Sandpoint - Sandpoint, ID +

Aug 3, 2025 KettleHouse Amphitheater - Bonner, MT +

Aug 5, 2025 Venue TBA - Salt Lake City, UT +

Aug 7, 2025 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Morrison, CO *

Aug 8, 2025 Dillon Amphitheater - Dillon, CO *

* Dispatch, Donavon Frankenreiter and Illiterate Light

+ Dispatch, G. Love & Special Sauce and Donavon Frankenreiter

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Hi-res artwork: https://shorefire.com/roster/john-butler 

About John Butler:

John Butler is one of Australia’s premiere alternative songwriters and storytellers with accolades spanning from #1 charting albums, platinum records and ARIA Awards across his illustrious career as one of the country’s most successful independent musicians. His rich catalogue of iconic hits spanning over a quarter of a century include signature songs such as ‘Zebra’, ‘Better Than’, ‘Ocean’ and more. His music continues to traverse the globe having performed on the world’s most iconic stages, venues and festivals including Fuji Rock, Glastonbury, Coachella, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and more with his high energy live show and revered musicianship.

Butler’s 2018’s ‘HOME’, debuted at #1 on the ARIA Charts with the record exploring new sonic territory, expanded instrumentation and experimentation which challenged but accentuated his core roots sound. Butler is more than a humble singer-songwriter: he is a musical revolutionary who has paved the way for troubadours to rewrite their pathway to success in the music business, free from the shackles of major labels, corporate sponsors and moral compromise. 

FOR PRESS INQUIRIES: 

Lena Wright / Shore Fire Media / lwright@shorefire.com 

Chris Taillie / Shore Fire Media / ctaillie@shorefire.com