I’m often asked why I never write reviews about records I don’t like.
The answer is in these words: “Play your harmonica son”, which Walter Trout says to Will Wilde on “Bleed” and as Wilde lets rip in the most stunning way possible, you just know Walter is loving it. There’s so much joy here, how can you not be swept along?
That one is part way through the record. It all starts with “Broken” itself, the title track has almost no intro. As though Walter has things to say this time, it’s a slower start than we’ve been used to as well, and Beth Hart (when of a few guests on this) is sensational when she joins him.
He’s in a reflective mood on this collection, perhaps even more than most of his recent records. It suits him and – I know this is setting the bar high – his playing is even better than you expect. There’s a bit of a classic blues feel to the harmonica-drenched “Turn And Walk Away” and that’s one of many colours and textures.
He has a way of laying himself bare, does Walter, and “Courage In The Dark” is so full of anxiety, that you can almost feel the mental health struggles in the solo – by the way, that guitar solo is absolutely astonishing.
“Talkin’ To Myself” is more of a straight-ahead rocker; but the fact that Trout is always ready to challenge himself (and you) is underlined by the Eastern flavour of the guitar.
As you get older, you do think about the changes around you and being out of step – as I edge towards 50 in 2025, I can feel a kinship with Trout in a way I couldn’t perhaps when I first saw him 25 years ago. That feeling is all the way through “No Magic (On The Street)” and also the incredible “I’ve Had Enough” with Dee Snider. The energy, the skill, the fun. It’s all bursting out. It had its genesis in a social media conversation that Snider had with fans about Walter which I was part of. It’s nice to think that social media might (for once) have been a force for good.
It’s not news that I believe Walter Trout to be the finest guitarist of his generation (hell, I’ve written it in every review I’ve done on his work and gigs – and he probably cared a lot more when Bob Harris said it than when I did!) but “Love Of My Life” which is string-drenched and might actually soundtrack some film that’s in Walter’s head, will do you as proof. While the almost-country “Breathe” takes you down another road. The Allman Brothers might be stealing it, but you’ll drift away with it …. (see what I did there?)
Trout – as any songwriter might be – is immensely concerned with the state of the world. “Heaven Or Hell” is both clever and unsettling as well as heavy as hell, “I Wanna Stay” is the other side to that. So content, so soulful. So in love.
But if there was one feeling that binds these together then it is confusion, with himself, the world, life. And “It Falls Apart” brings that right to the end.
The man himself recognises this album is a little different: “I’ve always tried to write positive songs, and this album is not quite that,” he says. Before adding “but I always hold onto hope”.
Which brings me back to the opening. Why do you never criticise albums people say. The answer is two-fold. Firstly, we get sent so many, why waste time on art that someone has created that you don’t like? After all, someone will. But second, music has given me so much over the years, that I try and bring that through in my writing. I see no shame in saying, it is a privilege to be able to hear this record before it’s released. Whatever is “Broken” in this world, Walter Trout is in full working order these days and this is another work of utter skill and true class.
Rating 9.5/10
