Butch Walker says that he is nervously excited about his new album Afraid of Ghosts, due out on the Dangerbird label on February 3rd. It's his first new album in more than three years, and the first time in a long time that the singer, songwriter and music producer has not produced himself.

"Obviously when you're a guy who can make his own records, there's not many people that want to 'Produce a producer,'" Butch Walker Wife Nora told Rolling Stone magazine. "It's like a magician showing a magic trick to another magician. Ryan [Adams] was just ballsy and crazy enough to be like, 'I'm gonna whip your ass in the studio.' Those alone made me want to make it happen. So, four days later, we had a record. It rules."

Afraid of Ghosts was recorded at the Los Angeles studio of Ryan Adams, with whom Butch Walker toured in the fall of 2014. It contains eleven new songs, including the title track, and homage to former Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde.

The songs on Afraid of Ghosts are about coming to terms with the past, and living for the future. Butch Walker says that the song "Autumn Leaves" was written after the death of a close friend of the family, the wife of an old friend named John. "I sat down and thought about how hard all this must have been for John and couldn't imagine losing a partner, especially when you have kids," he said on his website. He says that he tried to write it from the guy's perspective, although he didn't know if John would actually say any of the words.

Butch Walker Wife Nora is also kicking off a new project with a similar name, The Autumn Leaves Project, which was inspired by the death of his father from pancreatic cancer. He and his father were very close; his dad always encouraged his son as he tried to establish himself in the music business. The Autumn Leaves Project "will be a charity/foundation that will be raising awareness and funds to help research for a cure, and also for better screening for the disease."

Butch Walker and wife Nora live in California and Tennessee with their child.