Alligator Records [Release date 27^th March 2026]

Selwyn Birchwood’s ‘Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues’ is everything you want from a contemporary blues album.

It’s a well crafted, emotively sung and self produced masterpiece from a young blues artist who explores deeply felt, socially relevant blues songs on 10 tracks that push his tour band to the peak of their abilities.

The album strikes the perfect balance between rock, blues, funk, gospel and a hint of psychedelia on deft arrangements and inspired playing which merits the colourful album title.

Aside from Birchwood’s incendiary guitar work, there’s the beautifully voiced sax playing of Regi Oliver and the quite magnificent rhythm section of bassist Donald “Huf Wright” and drummer Henley Connor 111.

The latter duo brilliantly underpins the outstanding “All Hail The Algorithm’, which is arguably one of the most socially relevant blues songs of recent times.

Birchwood’s lyrics pull no punches: “Welcome to our digital hell, the whole wild world is in a world wide web.”

He expands on his main point: “Have you ever had a conversation in the privacy in your own home, only to find it advertised the next time you open up your phone?”

He cleverly adds some old school file sharing noises alongside an uplifting guitar solo over John Hetherington’s cool organ.

Such is the musical excellence here, that it reminds me of mid 70’s Zappa, right down to the wah-wah solo on a killer track that benefits from an organic production which lets the band breathe.

And while this album is very much a band effort, there’s no denying the unique contribution of Birchwood himself.

His smoky vocals on the magnificent gospel feel of ‘Damaged Goods’ sounds as if he’s pushing his range to the limit to express lyrical meaning, and yet he launches into the hook with plenty to spare.

The track is also a slight of hand, opening as a relaxed groove with a philosophical lyrical bent, as he tells us: “Cos now I know every soul’s got a shadow that follows him”, and; “mistakes are just the traits of the human condition.”

He alternates between carefully chosen clean picked notes and flighty note clusters offset by horn stabs, before a string-laden caustic solo, on a perfect example of respecting the song.

There’s also an essential flow to the album, as each track unveils a new facet of his writing, vocal phrasing and guitar playing ability.

It’s all there on ‘The Church of The Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues’, on which he huskily sings: “we ain’t chasing profit just the creation of joyful jubilation,” complete with call and response bv’s.

His main “music is the mission” statement is amplified by a layered groove with a joyous full blown wah-wah solo over infectious handclaps and an unexpected slide-led gospel finish.

There’s dynamic contrast too, on the contemplative ‘Labour of Love’.

The track features one of his warmest vocals and he effortlessly slips into falsetto on a chorus bolstered by gospel backing and an ascending string section, over which he lays his troubles on the table: “I got 2 screaming kids, with needs I can’t meet. It’s like the harder I try to provide, the more they need from me.”

He switches to wild slide on a rapped out intro to ‘Should’ve Never Gotten Out Of Bed’, complete with portentous band accompaniment.

Then there’s ‘What I’ve Been Accused Of’ which owes much to his Sonny Rhodes antecedents, on a slow blues full of slide, piano and earthy phrased wry lyrics.

He gets low down and funky on the 70’s style groove of ‘Talking Heads’ a song given extra purchase by his take on the contemporary media, while his soaring guitar break also evokes his lyrical frustration.

He then surprises us with the opening guitar lines of ‘Soul Mate’, a Roy Buchanan influenced slow blues, but featuring the most aggressive vocal on the album.

Everything gently comes to the rest on the closing ‘The Struggle Is Real’, a meditative book-end to a beautifully crafted album.

A subtle blend of acoustic, gentle vocal, Latino percussion, poignant lyrics, a gospel feel and a subtle horn arrangement, gives one of the most original contemporary blues albums of the year an introspective and thoughtful finish.

File under essential modern blues. *****

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 16 March 2026

THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Brat With A Baseball Bat (Eonian Records)
ARANDA You Don’t Wanna Know (indie)
MYRATH Breathing Near The Roar (earMUSIC)
DELBHOY KENNEDY Sky’s The Limit (Flip Flop Records)
ALL THEM WITCHES Starting Line (BMG)
HER FURY Use And Abuse (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 16 March 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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