Steve Louw releases “Killers” and “Streets of Rain” singles from new album “Between Time”

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NEW DOUBLE SINGLE – “KILLERS” / “STREETS OF RAIN”

RELEASED FRIDAY 12 JULY 2024 STREAM BOTH SINGLES HERE WATCH THE “KILLERS” MUSIC VIDEO HERE WATCH THE “STREETS OF RAIN” MUSIC VIDEO HERE

TAKEN FROM THE FORTHCOMING DOUBLE ALBUM “BETWEEN TIME”

RELEASED FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2024 PRE-ORDER & PRE-SAVE THE ALBUM HERE

Legendary South African blues rock, country, and Americana singer-songwriter and guitarist, Steve Louw releases “Killers”/“Streets of Rain” double single on Friday 12 July 2024. The songs are available on all streaming platforms via https://orcd.co/SteveLouwKillersStreetsofrain.

Both songs are taken from Louw’s highly anticipated third solo album Between Time released by BFD Records on Friday September 6th. Released as a 2-CD digipack, double vinyl, and digital, the highly anticipated double album is available to pre-order and pre-save from https://orcd.co/SteveLouwBetweenTime. “Killers” reflects the madness of waging war on each other. The song was written after hearing an audio clip of intercepted radio chatter in the first few weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the intense guitar-driven track’s energy evokes feelings of helplessness and rage.

“I wanted the song to feel spiritual, powerful, and cutting and exist on different time planes,” says Louw. “When we recorded Killers, it felt like we were stepping across into an earlier flickering time.”

Doug Lancio’s overdriven Harmony Rocket guitar locks with Steve’s acoustic and Rob McNelley’s soulful slide guitar to create a powerful sonic statement of rage and grief.

“The sound of this track is what I love about making records,” says producer Kevin Shirley. “Worldclass musicians together, creating art. Capturing those moments and being part of that experience never grows old.”

“Killers” is available on all streaming platforms HERE. Watch the official music video HERE.

The evocative Hammond organ playing of B3 wizard Lachy Doley and the chorused electric guitar and acoustic teases out the melancholy of “Streets of Rain.” “It’s a song about loss,” says Louw. “Although our pain is personal, you are not alone. When it’s coming down on you, it feels like you’ll never get out of there, but you will.”

“Lachy is one of the greatest Hammond players in the world, right up there with Steve Winwood and Booker T,” says Kevin Shirley. “When I was finishing off Streets of Rain, I knew his playing would be perfect. His beautiful solo captures the essence of the song.”

“Streets of Rain” is available on all streaming platforms HERE. Watch the official music video HERE.

Between Time, arrives decades into a long career, stretching back to the 1990s, when Louw partnered with South African record producer Kevin Shirley while fronting Big Sky, his vehicle to acclaim in his native South Africa. Louw broke back into the music scene rousingly with his 2021 solo album Headlight Dreams, which Shirley helped push into existence, telling Louw after a decade of silence that it was time for him to make another record. He assembled a crack band, including keyboardist Kevin McKendree (John Hiatt), drummer Greg Morrow (Billy Gibbons), bass player Alison Prestwood (Buddy Miller), guitarists Rob McNelley (Hank Williams Jr), and Doug Lancio (Bob Dylan).

Headlight Dreams received solid reviews and earned him his third South African Music Award nomination. Thunder and Rain followed hot on its heels, a rich and natural album of muscular folk and insistent rock, a blend that Louw has refined throughout his career.

With Between Time, he explores those moments that fall outside the strict constructs of time with songs that have past, present, and future, while using imagery that’s both timeless and present. Cut live in the studio with his same band; the music has a transcendent quality, a chemistry that blends craft and inspiration into something mystical. The stars align on three songs recorded back-to-back on the same day. The heartfelt “Killers”, where ‘Killers with numbers not names, came killing across the plains’, flows into, ‘In the Badlands, sand turned to dust, outsiders stand, steel turned to rust’, on the driving “Giants Walk The Land” (co-written with Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie), and to a new beginning on “Time to Get On,” ‘As we face to the sun, it’s time to get on’.

Hearing the band discover the inherent passion and tenderness within the songs is part of the pleasure of Between Time. Their chemistry is evident on the low-down shuffle of “Do Me Good” and the country honk of “Alibi.” They swing hard on “Get Real Gone” and ratchet up the tension on “Flowers on The Graves of Doves,” a ringing, roiling number that conjures the mystery of early R.E.M.

You feel the band as much as you hear them, as on “Highway to the Sun,” the eight-minute exit to the 20-song collection. Louw is as much a member of the band as he is its leader. His steady, propulsive guitar playing providing as much of a connective tissue as his unguarded voice.

Collaborative energy is a crucial element of Between Time, extending to guest appearances by Joe Bonamassa, who accentuates the Blues on “Cruel Hand of Fate” with an explosive country-style solo. Added to that is Jim Moginie, whose eclectic guitar sound and creative force evoke the natural world’s power on “Giants Walk The Land,” and Hammond maestro Lachy Doley, who teases out the reassuring comfort lurking within “Streets of Rain.”

Between Time is a record filled with compassion and heart, a defining album for an artist who has consistently delivered great-sounding music over several decades.

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