Although he’s not exactly a household name, Walter Trout’s name is well known in bluesy-rock circles. Anyone who’s played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, John Lee Hooker, Joe Bonamassa and Big Mama Thornton certainly merits enormous blues cred.
Despite now being 74, on this new album, he’s playing with a level of intensity several players half his age would struggle to keep up with. Sign Of The Times is loaded with full-on blues rockers, as well as some slower, more emotional blues. After surviving an eleven-hour operation on a busted-up kidney several years back, (drugs and alcohol addiction will do this to you), it’s like he’s been given a new lease of life and he’s grabbing it with both hands around its neck.
This is a fine set of bluesy rock, plus a few slower, more emotive tunes, from a master craftsman. Blues purists would probably be aghast, but you can hear it in what he plays. Right from the outset, Walter Trout gives us his take on things which concern him, the rapid spread of AI, his recovery from addiction and the increasing complexity of life. He begins with ‘Artificial,’ a not-too-subtle dig at AI and its impact, stating “today we have intelligence, the artificial kind, and I can’t tell what’s real anymore”. This is powerful stuff, full of rock angst. He continues with the rock-blues on the title track, ‘Sign of the Times,’ a blues bone cruncher with some fine guitar work, and ‘No Strings Attached,’ which is easy to imagine going down a storm onstage.
But he isn’t all about the rock. ‘I Remember’ is a longing for when life was so much simpler, channelling his inner Springsteen, and he uses accordion and acoustic guitar to enhance the lovely ‘Mona Lisa, Smile’. The Hammond is used to good effect on the slow blues rocker, ‘Blood Pillow’. He tugs at the heartstrings on the emotionally cathartic ‘Hurt No More’ singing “I don’t want to hurt myself any more”. Then there’s some fine blues harp on ‘Too Bad,’ where Trout sounds like Dion de Mucci.
The album concludes with ‘Struggle To Believe’. This is classic rock rather than blues rock and he plays it really well, with a fire and savagery several younger players would like to be able to muster. And with a lengthy tour to follow this release, Walter Trout is certainly taking the opportunity given to keep on playing the blues.
Walter Trout’s new album Sign Of The Times is released on 5th September 2025 via Provogue.
