Lately, it seems like Butter have been offering up the best of themselves to all sorts of music makers in the local scene. The pop trio have been seen kicking out the jams with moody rocker Arlo Indigo and backing up hip-hop artist Mal London, even spreading the love up I-5 working with Seattle’s soulful Down North.
The collaborative spirit is always strong whenever Butter are writing and producing tracks, which is exactly how “Best of Us” came together. “This is just a single we created and thought Erik [Carlson of DoublePlusGood] would sound perfect on,” Butter’s Aaron Schmidt says.
Butter in blue and yellow at top of page and Erik Carlson of DoublePlusGood in black and white aboveCarlson is no stranger to scratching a creative itch when it arises, dropping a collaborative cover with Small Million a summer ago. So it was time for another joint effort.
“The tune started off with our friend Sam bringing in a chill, synth-based instrumental,” Schmidt explains. “We worked on the drums first, pulling in some ’80s-inspired snare and clap sounds mixed with modern hi-hats. We sent Erik a version with nothing on the verses but the chorus fully demoed out. He sent back a voice memo he sang in his car of a melody to fit in the verse section and the rest of the lyrics were written after that. It was a super fun experiment to work ‘Postal Service’ style with a group of friends that grew even more close-knit after this experience.”
“Best of Us” is a song “about coming to terms with the end of a long-distance relationship,” Schmidt tells. “Even though ending it was the best decision, a part of you will never stay quiet. That piece of you will always be yelling ‘what if’ into a void and you just have to figure out how to be the best person you can be with that rattling around in the back of your head. It’s the eternal struggle between the heart and the mind.”
Recorded with Summer Cannibals’ Jessica Boudreaux and Cassi Blum at their Lemon Slice Studios as well as in Butter’s home studio, just like the listening, it was a super smooth process that was ultimately mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Mastering.
