South African guitarist and songwriter Steve Louw has released his new studio album Traces of the Flood, available now via BFD/The Orchard.
Produced by Kevin Shirley, whose production credits include Joe Bonamassa, Beth Hart and Joanne Shaw Taylor, the album arrives alongside the release of its title track and accompanying official music video.
The record continues Louw’s long-running blend of blues rock, Americana and roots-driven storytelling, but with a stronger cinematic thread running throughout. The newly released title track captures that approach perfectly, unfolding like a road movie set against the vast South African landscape.
“In this panoramic tale, set in the barren South African Karoo landscape, we are on an exploration,” Louw explains. “Travelling from the sea to the source of an African river.”
He describes the song as a journey through danger, isolation and self-discovery, filled with images of storms, fires, empty plains and drifting spirits.
“Traces of the Flood is a song where you have to keep moving,” he says. “The law is on your back. Storms are brewing. Fires are raging.”
Musically, the track leans into atmosphere and space while still carrying the guitar-driven heart that has defined Louw’s work for decades.
Louw’s career stretches back to the South African rock scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, first with All Night Radio and later with Big Sky, whose 1990 album Waiting for the Dawn became closely associated with South Africa’s changing political landscape at the end of apartheid.
Across the following decades, he built a respected catalogue that mixed rock, blues and Americana influences while collaborating with artists including Brian May, Dave Stewart and Joe Bonamassa.
Recent solo albums including Headlight Dreams, Thunder and Rain and Between Time reintroduced Louw to a wider international audience, with Traces of the Flood continuing that late-career creative run.
The new album is available now on CD, vinyl and digital formats.
Find out more, order the album and watch the video at:
https://www.stevelouw.com
