Wood & Waste
Fireplace, 2021
9/10
A guitar player who’s making a crossover career as a blues artist, New Zealand’s Tom Rodwell takes up company with Chris O’Connor (drums, percussion) and Jeff Henderson (marching bass drum), as well as some guests on this very diverse and cautious 9 track album.
“Don’t Be A Fugitive All Your Life” starts the listen with firm drumming as Rodwell’s soulful, expressive vocals suit the rhythm and blues that even touches on gospel nods, and “Keep On Knockin’” follows with a retro rock’n’roll spirit amid a tinge of psychedelia as a warm haze covers the inviting climate.
“Carry On” lands in the middle, and benefits from Coco Davis’ harmony vocals in the slow burning display of poetic beauty, while “Touch Me Like A Teddybear” is a fuller display of soaring blues ideas where intricate guitar work and thumping drums make a large impression. “Small Town” then recruits a firm beat as charming bass lines populate the funky flavor where Phil Dryson contributes phased strat.
The last two tracks, “Make Believe” and “Dead End Road”, don’t disappoint either, where the former offers breezy melodies that has Rodwell channeling his inner Brian Wilson, and the latter exits with an ambient and mysterious display of carefully textured creativity.
Though Henderson and O’Connor are most known for their work in the area of jazz, here they’re on board for a very eclectic experience that was recorded completely analog with no digital conversion at any point. Certainly atypical and not fitting into any easy classification, Rodwell’s iconoclastic vision of Calypso tinted and psyche-friendly blues rock makes for a captivating body of work.
Travels well with: Laura Mihalka- Feels Electric; Jon Byrd- Me & Paul