Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
“The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it…” effortless words of wisdom framed by the writer Charles Bukowski, and given even greater illumination and ferocity by the blues man Walter Trout in his latest album, Ordinary Madness.
The world is not just a foolish place, but it stands aloof from the rest of the universe, revelling in its own lunacy, driven by jesters and clowns, misleading and double-talking buffoons, it is no wonder that we perhaps feel crowded in our thoughts, almost helpless in our actions, and yet there is always help, the figure offering ordinary madness, the proposal that refuses to acknowledge anything other than the fact that we are extraordinary; that madness is just a by-product of the beauty we can appreciate in others.
Walter Trout has never shied away from confronting his own demons and spectres, neither has he ever poured cold water on the heat other’s issue, instead his music has maintained a healthy persuasion for the listener to find, and accept their soul, to seek it out, and to realise only then does the madness make sense, that we are the extraordinary pushed under by the ordinary and insane powers that be.
Across tracks such as Wanna Dance, All Out of Tears, Final Curtain Call, The Sun Is Going Down and the magnificent title track, Ordinary Madness, the honesty of the man at once becomes crystal clear, the heart opens, and the message comes pouring out, it’s not your fault that the world is off its own kilter, that the compass has skewed, but the least you can do is recognise your soul, and let it soar free.
It takes a glimpse of someone else’s freedom to know you have to be free, to own your expression and detach yourself from the guilt of the madness surrounding you. The ability and understanding to recognise the flaws in yourself, not just to work on them, confront them as if you were storming a castle controlled by a tyrant, but in the end to say it doesn’t matter, that you can soar free with your own Ordinary Madness and still be the one who is actual fact, extraordinary.
It is that peek behind the veil of madness that music is able to penetrate, that Walter Trout’s latest album enjoys its own personal freedom.
Walter Trout releases Ordinary Madness on August 28th via Provogue.
Ian D. Hall