Since putting out their first record in the mid 80’s Christine Woodbridge and John Sprosen, a.k.a. Alpha & Omega, have played a pivotal role in the development of the distinctive UK dub sound and have been responsible for some serious sound system anthems along the way. Check out 1992’s ‘Yemenite Chant’ that puts the same vocal sample that Coldcut used in their remix of ‘Paid In Full’ to devastating effect.

‘Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego‘ is their latest album and, keeping it a family affair, is released on Steppas Records which is run by John’s son who is himself responsible for putting out some killer tunes as Alpha Steppa. The ten tracks on the album are presented showcase style with five vocal cuts alongside their corresponding dubs. There’s a great diversity in the choice of vocalists that results in a wide variety of styles ranging from Joseph Lalibela’s powerful apocalyptic warnings in opener ‘Steppin In The Fyay’ to the soulful roots of Nai Jah in ‘Maisha’. This, combined with the duo’s established willingness to experiment and push their sound forward by adopting new influences, results in a refreshingly diverse and contemporary take on the classic UK sound. You can certainly feel this at work across tracks like ‘Jah Is Here’ which takes on an extra bit of dubstep bass weight and on mystical stepper ‘Real Eyes Realize‘ which makes great use of Wellette Seyon’s beautiful vocals and takes on a lovely deep meditative form in its dub version ‘Dub Realizaton.‘

‘Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego‘ is another proud chapter in Alpha & Omega’s three decade long musical journey and sees them continue to do what they do best - pushing the sound of UK dub forward through a combination of established heritage and opened minded progressiveness.

‘Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego‘ is out now and available digitally here and on vinyl here.

You can also check out 'The Story Of Alpha & Omega 1985 - 2020' vinyl mix put together by Alpha Steppa here.