BRIDGET WISHART – Ekolu (2026, CD, Savant Guarde Records) 

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Savant Guarde Records

Format: CD, Jewelcase

Release Date: 31 Oct 2026

Bridget Wishart’s story is deeply rooted in Britain’s underground psychedelic and space-rock culture. She emerged from the Bath squat-band scene in the early 1980s, fronting the Hippy Slags before joining Hawkwind, where her distinctive vocals became part of the band’s celebrated 1990s period, most notably on Space Bandits. After stepping away from music for several years, Wishart returned through the possibilities offered by the internet, opening a new chapter of collaborations with artists such as Don Falcone and Spirits Burning. Her longstanding creative partnership with psych-folk outfit Chumley Warner Brothers has also seen her writing and performing with the band for almost two decades. More recently, she has appeared on projects involving Spirits Burning, Michael Moorcock’s The End of All Songs Part 2, and Astral Hawk Machine, alongside Santtu Laakso and Jay Tausig. [Santtu and Bridget made an album together, ASTRAL MAGIC Feat. Bridget Wishart “Ad Infinitum”, and it was on our yearly list with the TOP albums of 2023, check List here). “Ekolu” now marks another important turning point: after more than four decades within the underground, Wishart finally presents a solo statement entirely under her own name.

Her first solo album, released on All Hallows’ Eve through Savant Guarde Records, brings together space rock, psychedelia and progressive currents, with music composed by Santtu Laakso (an unstoppable, tireless, Space-Rock musical Generator/Machine), and guitar contributions from Steve Bemand. Yet this is not simply an exercise in revisiting Hawkwind territory, nor a nostalgic trip back to Space Bandits. “Ekolu” feels more like another transmission from the same mysterious universe, carrying traces of the past while deliberately searching for new planetary coordinates. Nine tracks, strange atmospheres, floating melodies and Wishart’s unmistakable presence — a veteran space traveler finally commanding her own spacecraft.

The album’s artwork was conceived to celebrate Wishart as a space-rock pioneer and solo artist, both literally and conceptually. The visual world was developed by Daniel Rozell and Wishart and brought to life by artist Alan Arthurs, former Hawkwind stage director and a long-established album-cover and conceptual artist.

One small thing that initially caught my attention is that every track begins with a fade-in. At first, I found it slightly odd, but thinking about how “Ekolu” was actually created, it starts to make much more sense. Three people, working from three different places, each recording their own parts before everything was brought together — under these circumstances, those fade-ins almost become part of the album’s organic character, and after a few spins they are perfectly acceptable. The journey itself begins with “Seasons”, a fast and furious opener, completely drenched in spacey effects and driven by a modern, charged Space-Rock soundscape. The electric guitar adds something genuinely extra-terrestrial to the whole affair, but above everything else stands Bridget’s voice — charming, melodic and unmistakably 100% Space-Rock! “Anchor” takes things a little heavier, developing into a totally Spaced-Out, up-tempo trip where Bridget’s spacey-treated vocals give the song a strange, out-of-this-world character, while the synth effects are absolutely on fire and eventually flirt with Space-Prog towards the end. “No Shadow” remains within the same cosmic scenery but introduces a rougher, almost punky attitude, with the guitar leaning further towards the psychedelic side of Space-Rock and giving the track an extra raw edge. “Bits of Blue” changes the temperature completely, becoming an enchanting, dreamy Space-Rock ballad with heavenly electric guitar, trippy effects and an emerging Prog-Psych atmosphere. Bridget sings, speaks and seems to guide us towards some distant parallel universe — or whatever exists beyond it — making this one particularly remarkable. “Guardian” arrives with a futuristic, slightly cinematic and somewhat heavier character, perhaps the most obviously Hawkwind-ized moment so far. The sound is a little hazier and blurrier than on the previous tracks, intentionally or not, but that only adds to its atmosphere, and the result is another guaranteed Space-Rock-Proggy anthem. “One by One” is a compact space-a-delic blast, carrying an incredible Hawkwind-inspired Space-Rock atmosphere, like a space missile suddenly breaking away from our galaxy and disappearing into a time warp at impossible speed. “Separate the Dream” slows things down into a mid-tempo interstellar journey, with Bridget’s voice sounding in great shape and the electric guitar once again delivering a wondrous cosmic presence. As the track approaches its conclusion, the backward vocals introduce an eerie, creepy-a-delic sensation, turning an already strong piece into one of the album’s highlights. “Hare and Hounds” is another strangely shaped Space-Rock anthem, blending psychedelic elements with touches of Neo-Prog, while the violin adds an outlandish Hawkwind feel — or perhaps simply some of its peculiar charm. It is difficult to define, but that is exactly what makes it so astounding, almost like a strange Space-Rock fairytale unfolding somewhere beyond the stars. Finally, the CD bonus track “When the Wind Calls Your Name” takes the album into even more experimental territory, surrounding Bridget’s spoken lyrics with tons of spacey effects, electronic noises and assorted cosmic debris. Weird, futuristic and wonderfully unconventional, it leaves the listener suspended somewhere between music, narration and pure sonic experimentation…

In conclusion, “Ekolu” proves that Bridget Wishart has not returned simply to look backwards. This is a living, breathing Space-Rock journey, carrying the spirit of another era but refusing to become a museum piece. Strange, melodic, psychedelic and occasionally wonderfully weird, it deserves to be heard as the beginning of a new chapter rather than the closing page of an old one. Buckle up, turn the lights down, and let Bridget take you somewhere beyond the known coordinates… TimeLord Michalis

Tracklist

Links

Get it via SAVANT GUARDE RECORDS Web

Visit BRIDGET WISHART Facebook

Check SANTTU LAAKSO Astral Sounds on Bandcamp