Anna Scouten is a young and extremely talented singer-songwriter from Canada. A mesmerising performer with a beautiful voice, she has steadily built up a strong following on YouTube and, if the songs recorded in her bedroom are anything to go by, the self-titled debut EP, out tomorrow, is sure to be a stunner. ....
Here at FFS we’ve been super fans of Alessi’s Ark – aka Alessi Laurent-Marke – since the very beginning. We should probably have a badge or something. We first caught wind of Alessi when she was a whip of a thing charming tiny pubs in 2008, and by 2010 she was supporting Laura Marling, we’ve...
Similarities between Evening Hymns and Bon Iver are abundant. On the recently released Spectral Dusk, sonic layers build over muted, military beats and the beauty is in each carefully crafted detail. The record was even recorded in a log cabin in Perth, Ontario. However, where Perth was expansive – the eye of a golden...
Strictly speaking, we’ve already introduced Hoshal Patrick, the delightfully dreamy duo with the air of a very chilled-out Smiths about them – check out the very favourable reviews from our New Bands Panel. Find out a bit more about the boys here, including their plans for a dubfolk revolution and what they’d do with a...
London’s Foundling Museum is full of intriguing artefacts. “Some of these things you’d think only existed in folk songs. But here they are in real, palpable things,” we are told before the first of the museum’s new, monthly folk nights. What a place, then, to meet Alasdair Roberts, the Scottish singer whose most recent...
The Leisure Society released their third album Alone Aboard the Ark at the beginning of this month. After a short stint in Europe, they're about to complete their UK tour with a sold out show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. FFS had a chat with songwriter and frontman Nick Hemming...
Spiro are Jane Harbour (violin, viola), Jon Hunt (acoustic guitar, cello), Jason Sparkes (accordion) and Alex Vann (mandolin). Their bewitching, unconventional brand of folk draws powerfully on a fascinating array of both contemporary and traditional influences. Mesmeric, often frenzied, Spiro’s masterpieces take you to dreamlike and highly addictive highs. We caught up with Jane and Jon...
Having spent much of the last three years playing residencies in Dublin pubs – our idea of heaven, really – Gavin James is now sharing his prodigious talent with the rest of the world. Debut EP, Say Hello, entered the Irish iTunes album charts at Number One, after which he coolly went on to pick up...
With first two albums, Matchbox Man and Map or Direction, John Smith (no more comments on the name, please god) built up a quiet but devoted following. With third full-length release, Great Lakes, the time has come for Smith to take his place amongst the heavy-weights of the new British folk scene. A seamless...
Record Store Day is a celebration of all record stores are, and all they can be. A good record store plays a huge role in the local community – and exceptional ones do even more. Last month, the film Good Vibrations was released, telling the story of how one shop made itself a sanctuary...
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