John Butler is an anomaly. Defying all the odds, this US-born, staunchly-independent, tree-huggin' blues-virtuoso has been accepted into mainstream Australia despite his feral appearance and leftist politics. Dubbed "the million dollar hippie", Butler has almost single-handedly redefined the Australian music industry with his refusal to sign to a major record label, and developing a business-model that holds community development as one it's core values.

From his own JB Seed arts grants program, to his work with remote Indigenous communities and his outspoken views on the plight of refugees, his success has occurred in a landscape that is still waking from ten years of conservatism and in defiance of an upward trend towards nationalism.

Where John Butler Trio sat with 2007's Grand National however was a bit awkward. Writing from a more personal perspective, Butler's work saturated mainstream airwaves creating surreal situations such as suburban soccer-mums entering meet n' greet contests when he rolled through town. Butler's audience had quickly graduated from the passing traffic of lunch-dates to the stadiums filled with an ideologically mixed audience who, had they been anywhere less positive (say, Bondi in 2006) - would be tearing each other limb from limb as they fought over politically charged issues such as the environment and immigration.

However, it'd be fair to say that Butler has undergone a slight re-evaluation process these past 12 months. Ridding himself of his trademarked dreadlocks, he also stepped out on his own and recorded a live solo EP for charity. Soon after he announced the dissolution of the Trio as we knew it in order to explore new musical paths.

The result of this shift will be upon us in the new year with the album April Uprising. To warm us up to the change the Trio has released the first single 'One Way Road'. It's a similar strategy Butler employed for his Sunrise Over Sea album and the associated 'Zebra' single: release a catchy pop song drenched in roots positivity in the hope that it'll form a major part of radio-listeners summer soundtrack.

'One Way Road' us a decent attempt to copycat previous successes, however it lacks the crucial catch cry (even if 'Zebra's catch-cry was gibberish: buh, buh, bada-buh).

'One Way Road' reminds me of the positivity and bounce employed in The Spin Doctors' early singles. It's hard not to bop along to it, even if you haven't picked up all the words.

Track 2, 'I'm Ready' is a bit of a dub-influence throwaway track, where the demo of 'Johnny's Gone' is a reminder of the celebrations many of us had when Howard finally fell.

'One Way Road' is available via download or in the physical format.