People Move On

People Move On is the debut album from English singer Bernard Butler released in 1998.

Following his split from soul singer David McAlmont in 1995 and a three-year absence from the public eye, Butler re-emerged on Alan McGee's Creation label for his debut solo album. A year earlier McGee had, in fact, dubbed him the "Neil Young of the Nineties". Butler wrote all the songs, produced the album and played all the instruments, except drums and strings, which were played by Makoto Sakamoto and The Brilliant Strings respectively.

People Move On echoes the early Seventies cool rock singer/songwriting era in its heartfelt sentiment and warm, melodic approach. Though Butler has stressed that it isn't a "retro record". The record has a Spector-esque feel, which displays an "old-fashioned big-pop-production quality of the songs."

The album was released to generally positive reviews, though some critics felt that Butler's vocals were rather thin. One reviewer felt that "his voice doesn't carry enough weight to give the songs a killer instinct." In response to the criticism Butler stated: "I'm not claiming I'm a technically talented singer, and I'm certainly not some kind of tortured poet who sits with a notebook under trees pondering the meaning of life, but my voice allowed me to express a part of me I had found very difficult to express in conversation before."

Simon Evans of the Birmingham Post highly praised the album. He felt that, "Butler has at last delivered the kind of high-grade solo album he always seemed capable of when he finally gave up the celebrity sessioning." He then compared the album to the last output by his creation labelmates Oasis, saying "...this is the kind of tuneful, fun, album Oasis should have made after Morning Glory, until their ambitions expanded exponentially with their egos."

Singles released from the album were "Stay", "Not Alone" and "A Change of Heart". The album peaked at #11 on the UK Albums Chart. "Stay" was the highest charting single, peaking at #12.