Founding father, Dave Brock and his team of psychedelic overlords continue to be musically prolific despite reigning over the Galaxy’s hi-fis for over five decades. Releasing a studio album almost every year since they joined the Cherry Red label in 2016 for the release of The Machine Stops album. This seems to be a union made in heaven… or at least the cosmos. Add to this five live albums over the same period and you have a growing catalogue which would embarrass even the newest pups on the current music scene. Brock has taken advantage of a well deserved gap between major releases to remind the Hawkfans of the band’s vast legacy as well as teasing them with a glimpses into the bright future ahead of them. Psychedelic Selection brings together unheard moments, historically significant events, re-worked classics, as well as time travelling into the future with two brand new tracks from the bands forthcoming project. This is by no means a standard retrospective.
Messing with the time, space continuum from the get go Psychedelic Selection starts at the end, rather than the beginning, with the short and sweet nature crazy ‘Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad’ and psychedelic hippy trip of ‘There Are Fairies In The Garden’ opening the window on the next chapter (Spirits Of Nature?) for these particular warriors in time. These tunes fit beautifully next to the blast from the distant past which is ‘Hurry On Sundown’. This full tilt version features the final recording with the band by Hugh Lloyd-Langton, supplying a worthy tribute to the long-serving guitarist who passed away in 2012. ‘The Demented Man’ is presented in a re-worked version which brings the Warrior On The Edge Of Time track’s rolling swirl into the modern era, as does a new twist on ‘Those Days Of The Underground’ from Quark, Strangeness And Charm. Live in the studio takes of ‘Traveller Of Space’, and The Hawklords ‘PSI Power’ add another layer to the nostalgic element, proving the class of 2026 featuring Brock (guitar, vocals), Magnus Martin (guitar, vocals, keys), Doug MacKinnon (bass), Richard Chadwick (drums), and Tim Lewis (keys) are more than up to the job of flying this musical spacecraft into a new universe. This is also in full evidence on the current line-up’s percussive ‘The Judge And The Fisherman’, ‘Tortured Mind’ which has that classic Hawkwind throb, and the techno beats of ‘Goonhilly Down’. Magnus is offered a solo slot with his track, ‘Ocean’s Spiral’ which perfectly describes its rolling keyboards and funky bassline, while Brock’s (larger) solo contribution is made up of the FX rich ‘Human Zoo’, ‘Land Of Min’, and the oscillator heavy ‘Out Of Luck’, the later two from his unreleased dance and trance project, which fit the mix ‘n’ match array of electronica just fine, as does the Hawkwind Light Orchestra’s, ‘Part Of Human Behaviour (No Sex Allowed)’. The snapshots dished up within Psychedelic Selection are a bit random, and seem a little all over the place at times so may not be ideal for the Hawkwind newbie (if there is such a thing), but it is a interesting bonus release, and will keep the faithful happy until the portal is opened on the next Hawkwind journey (“Brock in full Darwin mode” apparently). Watch this space.
Summing up perfectly the intention of Psychedelic Selection in his sleeve notes, author Robert Goodwin writes, “part expedition log, part dispatch from deep space”. Whether you are a diehard follower of the band or re-discovering the Hawkwind of the 21st century, there is plenty here to entice, intrigue, and enjoy. Hawkwind once again find themselves in great demand over the summer months with shows across the UK including a special Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Weekend at Morecambe Winter Gardens on August 8th and 9th ,as well as headlining the Saturday night at A New Day Festival in Kent on 22nd August. There’s life in the old space dogs yet.
Reviewed by Peter Brockwell.
CD Released Via Cherry Red Records On 12th June 2026 (2LP Vinyl 24th July 2026).
Hawkwind: Psychedelic Selection, CD Edition
Hawkwind: Psychedelic Selection, Double Vinyl Edition
Hawkwind (@hawkwindhq) • Instagram photos and videos
Track List
- Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad
- There Are Fairies In The Garden
- Hurry On Sundown
- The Demented Man
- Tortured Mind
- Land Of Min
- Part Of Human Behaviour (No Sex Allowed)
- Those Days Of The Underground
- Out Of Luck
- PSI Power
- Human Zoo
- The Judge And The Fisherman
- Goonhilly Down
- Ocean’s Spiral
- Traveller Of Space
