It was last October that “Little Lies” introduced the blog to Walter the Producer. The song followed me around after a single listen, and has been one of my most played songs from last year. Walter (nee Reid Hosp)’s distinct and somewhat casual vocal delivery just oozes charm, and there are three or four short melodies in the song that are near flawless earworms.
In interviews, Reid has described a dream of being a producer, and making his own music as a way to demonstrate his chops and find other artists to produce for. Listen to his 2023 mixtape No Substance, and his debut album Please Help Me I’m Scared from 2024, and you can hear it: each of those releases is packed with ideas and musical exploration. Together, they sound like a groovy, diverse, and impressive demo reel.
“Little Lies” followed the Sergio Leone-influenced “Bad Bad Man” as the first singles leading to Walter the Producer’s new EP Modern Rock. “Bad Bad Man” is charismatic and unserious, interspersed with stock cowboy movie sound effects.
Those two songs are standouts on Modern Rock (out June 6 via Slumbo Labs). With this record, it sounds like Walter has landed on a sweet spot: groovy, melodic, funk-infused indie rock that sounds both breathlessly current and rooted in a different decade. Several influences are easy to pinpoint: Jamiroquai, Earth, Wind and Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones. Filtered through all of it is Walter’s sense of fun and effortless charisma.
The six tracks on Modern Rock each feel more focused and fussed-over than his prior work, doubtless in part due to a series of collaborators including drummer Maxx Morando, producers Maverick Fabela and Grant Boutin. The record feels cohesive, recurring themes of a solitary, lonely modern cowboy chasing lost love.
The production on non-single track “Lonely Cowboy” pushes things a little further with blown-out percussion and Walter pushing his voice to the point of distress, closing the record on an urgent and wistful note.
The six songs on Modern Rock work like a statement of purpose — after a couple of years of finding his niche, this feels a little like Walter the Producer’s proper debut. If his earlier releases were experiments, Modern Rock is a turning point — focused and vibrant, it shows Walter the Producer with a clearer vision of where he’s headed next.
