New Single "Across The river"
Released 10 April 2026
Stream SINGLE | WATCH MUSIC VIDEO

New Album - "Traces of The Flood"
RELEASED 15 May 2026
Pre-Order Album

Acclaimed South African singer-songwriter Steve Louw returns with a powerful new single, “Across The River,” offering listeners a deeply evocative preview of his forthcoming album, Traces of the Flood, set for release on May 15, 2026.

Released Friday, April 10, the new single is available on all streaming platforms HERE.

Watch the music video on YouTube HERE.

Pre-order the new album HERE.

“Across The River” is a slow-burning, emotionally resonant track that blends Louw’s signature storytelling with stripped-back instrumentation and atmospheric depth. The song explores themes of longing, separation, and transcendence, anchored by imagery that is both intimate and expansive.

With its recurring motif of crossing over, physical, emotional, and perhaps even spiritual, the single captures a sense of inevitability and enduring connection.

Driven by poetic lyricism, the track unfolds like a quiet reckoning. Lines such as “These four walls all I see / And I think of you” and “We’ll meet across the riverside” suggest both confinement and hope, while the refrain, “I’ll be with you, my love,” lingers as a promise that transcends circumstance. The narrative is deeply personal yet universally accessible, allowing listeners to project their own interpretations onto its layered meaning.

Musically, “Across The River” leans into a minimalist arrangement, allowing Louw’s voice and lyrics to take centre stage. Subtle textures and a measured pace create a sense of tension and release, mirroring the emotional arc of the song itself. The result is a track that feels timeless, rooted in classic songwriting traditions while remaining distinctly contemporary.

The single serves as a compelling introduction to Traces of the Flood, an album that promises to further explore themes of memory, resilience, and the passage of time. While full details of the album remain under wraps, “Across The River” hints at a body of work that is both reflective and sonically rich, marking a significant chapter in Louw’s ongoing artistic evolution.

Speaking about the release, Louw notes that the song emerged from a place of introspection: a meditation on connection in moments of uncertainty, and the enduring pull of love across distance and adversity.

Cut live in the studio with a full-tilt, rocking band, “Across the River” delivers a high-octane cry out to the ghosts that haunt us, to lost love, and to redemption. We all carry spirits with us, converse with them and wait to meet them all again, “Across the River”.

With “Across The River,” Steve Louw once again demonstrates his ability to craft music that resonates on a deeply human level, understated yet profound, intimate yet far-reaching.

Steve Louw – Biography

Steve Louw is a South African musician and singer-songwriter who specialises in album rock, blues rock, country rock and Americana music. He was born in The Hague and has been active as a musician since 1981. He was inducted into the South African Rock Hall of Fame in 2003.

Louw, who was born Stephen Geoffrey Louw, learnt to play the guitar after being inspired by the music of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Neil Young, and formed his first band, Atlantic Rose, while in high school in Cape Town in the late 1960s. While a student at Stellenbosch University in the 1970s, he became involved in the local music scene, playing his own songs in various line-ups.

His career as a professional musician began in the early 1980s when he formed the band All Night Radio with fellow former Stellenbosch University students Nico Burger (guitar) and Rob Nagel (bass). The group recorded two albums – The Heart's the Best Part (1984) with US producer John Rollo, and The Killing Floor (1986), on which Louw began a partnership with producer Kevin Shirley that continues to this day.

Louw then formed the band Big Sky and, in 1990, released their debut album, Waiting for the Dawn, again produced by Kevin Shirley. The album arrived just as South Africa began moving away from apartheid rule, and the group's music helped soundtrack a decade of positive revolution. The title track is today considered a South African rock classic.

Big Sky released another five albums over the next 15 years: Horizon (1995), Going Down with Mr Green (1997), Best of the Decade (1999), Beyond the Blue (2002) and Trancas Canyon (2008); as well as the concert DVD Heart and Soul, filmed at Cape Town's Little Theatre in 2008.

Louw and Big Sky achieved considerable success in South Africa with sell-out tours and several major radio hits, including "Kathleen", "Mr Green", "One Cut With A Knife", "Strange Room" and "Diamonds and Dirt". In 1996, the band won the FNB South African Music Award for “Best Pop Music Performance” and “Best Rock Album” for the album Horizon.

In 1998, Big Sky opened for US singer-songwriter Rodriguez on his triumphant debut tour of South Africa, with the band also backing the US artist. The tour is chronicled in the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man.

Louw gained an international profile after collaborating with Brian May (Queen) and Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) on the track "Amandla", recorded for the 46664 AIDS awareness project, inspired by the work of Nelson Mandela.

In 2021, Louw returned with the album Headlight Dreams, produced by Kevin Shirley and recorded in Nashville with crack studio musicians, featuring a guest appearance by US guitar legend Joe Bonamassa. The album received critical acclaim, and the first single, "Wind in Your Hair", became a popular Spotify hit.

Louw released his sophomore solo release, Thunder and Rain, on November 11, 2022, through BFD. The album was produced by Kevin Shirley and features Joe Bonamassa and Doug Lancio.

On 6 September 2024, Louw released his third solo album, Between Time, produced by Kevin Shirley.

On 15 May 2026, Louw will release his fourth solo album, Traces of the Flood, produced by Kevin Shirley.