Michelle Shiers on March 4th, 2015

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Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Will Butler is due to release his debut solo album “Policy” on March 10 via Merge Records. Recorded in one week in Jimi Hendrix’s old living room at Electric Lady studios, “Policy” is a brief eight tracks of strong American goodness. As a whole, it charms with unpredictability and genre-hopping experimentation. Opening with “Take My Side” we are thrust into an anxious indie-folk jangle. “Anna” carries an old-school-punk “bom bom” rhythm with a tinge of pop quirkiness entwined in doo-wop piano, synth and saxophone. Butler’s cleverly oddball lyrics turn from joking to angry to candid to ridiculous, but always honest. “Finish What I Started” feels like a downtrodden ballad with matter-of-fact lyrics “I tried my best / but my best was half-hearted.” His style weaves together the better bits of ’90s americana, ’60s folk, blues, funk and upbeat jangly indie. “Son Of God” rocks with claps, attitude, and Butler’s Dylan-esque observations. On “Sing to Me,” the younger brother of Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler croons, “Sing to me, ’cause I’m tired / and I don’t wanna talk no more” — words that would make for a perfect album closer. But in keeping with the capricious nature of the record, “Policy” closes with the rollicking swing of “Witness” full of sax, backing singers and jaunty piano. Lucky for us, Butler’s spontaneity is not only reserved for his work in Arcade Fire as “Policy” is the unhinged and infectious sound of him making his mark. In support of “Policy,” Butler will also be recording five new songs based on news articles he read in The Guardian touching on the Greek economy, Ukranian separatists, water crises, black holes and ISIS.

||| Stream: “Take My Side”

||| Live: Will Butler performs May 27 at the Troubadour.