Review: Walter Trout – Sign Of The Times
Provogue ( September 5th 2025)
Reviewer – David Brighouse
This album is a reaction to current global issues and the subject matter has led to a rockier album than last year’s ‘Broken‘, but still with a wide variation of styles across the 10 tracks on offer.
Self-produced and co-written with his wife Marie, he is ably assisted in the studio by drummer Michael Leasure, bassist John Avila and keyboardist Teddy ‘Zig Zag’ Andreadis.
The album opens with ‘Artificial‘, the lead single from the album which hits hard with a chugging beat and screaming harmonica and Walter singing ‘’I can’t tell what’s real anymore‘’ as he questions the authenticity of everyday life.
Second track ‘Blood On My Pillow‘ drops things back down to slow and bluesy song of frustrated love with a lilting guitar solo.
Title track ‘Sign Of The Times‘ hits hard with fuzzed up guitar, searing keys, screamed vocals and the chanting of the ‘voices of the desperate’ as the common people rally against being ‘written out of the story’ supported by a wailing solo across the middle of the track.
In complete contrast ‘Mona Lisa Smile‘ is a slow ballad of acoustic guitar, piano and violin and a sweet ode to his wife.
‘Hurt No More‘ is a mid-tempo number picking up on familiar Trout themes of destructive behaviour, salvation and forgiveness with simple heartfelt lyrics and his trademark guitar work.
With ‘No Strings Attached‘ we’re back on the social commentary, led by screeching guitar and organ the focus is on a society which is increasingly godless and lawless, with a driving guitar solo to match the theme.
‘I Remember‘ is a slower slightly country laid back tale of trying to recapture the feelings of past better days, it comes across to me as a bit preachy, but maybe that was the intention.
I would describe ‘High Tech Woman‘ as honky tonk in style being piano driven, interspersed with Walter’s guitar and is a lighter hearted take on modern life and Walter’s inability to cope with technology (‘I’m a low-tech man’) and his need for a tech savvy woman to help him get through life.
‘Too Bad‘ is standard blues fare of harmonica, acoustic guitar and a story of a broken relationship.
Closing rocker ‘Struggle To Believe‘ is back on theme and contains an extended guitar solo sandwiched between caustic vocals about what has happened to the world – ‘’I wonder what went wrong and I struggle to hold on‘’.
At the age of 74 and with over 50 years in the music business you might have thought that Walter Trout had seen and done it all, but ‘Sign Of The Times‘ is him saying that the state of the world today is pretty precarious and who knows where it is going next, but with great music and performers like this there’s still hope for us all.
Tracklist:
- Artificial
- Blood on my Pillow
- Sign of the Times
- Mona Lisa Smile
- Hurt No More
- No Strings Attached
- I Remember
- Hi Tech Woman
- Too Bad
- Struggle to Believe
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