The Jules Fothergill Young Blues Artist of the Year (2021 UKBlues Awards) the Essex-born singer-songwriter CONNOR SELBY will release his self-titled deluxe album on 3rd March via Provogue.
Raised in an Essex village, he has trodden a path less travelled. From early years in Connecticut, USA, as a young child to Dubai, UAE, aged ten to fourteen, and Essex either side, with those young eyes soaked up the travels and the changes passing him by. One thing that kept with him was his burgeoning love of American roots music.
He says, “I’ve also always been attracted to the authoritative quality of the music. As a kid and teenager, I was quite shy and not very self-assured, so I think it was a place for me to find a sense of power.”
The break-up song ‘I Shouldn’t Care’ is a sparkling choppy-methodical throwback blues number that captures the quintessence of the earliest archetypal sounds and delivers those sounds with restless anxiousness, self-assured legitimacy, and tons of musical authority. The guitar notes glisten like pearls in the rain. And the moonshine voice is a mixture of butterscotch and mustard.
‘The Deep End’ (video shared below) is silkworm classy and handloomed smooth ‘n’ frictionless. If you shimmered your blues-guitar under a silkette wrap, this is what it would sound like when played! The song is about shared emotions, and taking risks with love, so the vocal is compassionate and real, but it’s the glistering guitar, enwrapped by a gluey organ, that really brings the silverized brightness to this number. Reflective.
Connor’s Ray Charles swing-revival cover ‘My Baby Don’t Dig Me’ is a little more jive-bumptious, with likable, grooving horns and plenty of rickling beats. The stomping orchestration on this recording is exquisite. And the guitarwork and well-baked elegant voice is savvy!
File alongside: Jimmie Vaughan, Duke Robillard
Album pre-order link: https://lnk.to/ConnorSelby
Main image: still from ‘My Baby Don’t Dig Me‘ video.
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