Let’s talk about Lady Nade, UK Americana Award nominee, showcased at the Folk Alliance International and the International Live Music Conference, performing at many online festivals in the UK and USA – including Thriving Roots and Folk on Foot. Recently…
Dive in deep to the wonderful, traditional and ever surprising sound world of Marry Waterson and Oliver Knight’s The Days That Shaped Me and you won’t be disappointed. Here we have English folk-smithery and deep-rooted tradition at its idiosyncratic and…
In Tall Tales, Ringlefinch have created a delightfully self-assured soundtrack for a world doing the hokey-cokey with the Covid 19 pandemic. Intelligent catchy song-writing, imagination, good humour, heart, hygge, and folk politics abound and flourish in this aural delight. I’m…
The voice is disorienting, pure as a bell, yet the subject matter of Where Shall We Begin by Chloe Foy is often decidedly downbeat. At first it seemed like a great lost Virginia Astley album. That lasted all of about…
David John Morris was asked to give up his guitar for nine months in order to enter Nova Scotia’s Gampo Abbey, which actually resulted in the creation of Monastic Love Songs. Along the way he had to work, study and meditate with the Buddhist…
In the creative landscape there’s something quite unfashionable about looking back. Whether you’re an artist, a novelist or a songwriter, you’re constantly training yourself to think that the next thing you create – the next song, novel, painting – will…
Inspired by the ancient Mount Paektu, Gruff Rhys’ latest solo album finds him exploring fertile territory while remaining both familiar and fresh. The Super Furries’ frontman has ploughed a rich and varied seam under his own steam for 15 years. Seeking…
Always Smiling, Oliver Woods first solo album, is a testament to not having a plan. He didn’t even know he was making a solo album. Being creative, when folks came to Nashville, he invited them over to write and jam…
It’s amazing what you can do in 10 days – it took just that long to record Flora by Frøkedal & Family. The Family part is something new, up until now it had just been Anne Lise Frøkedal. The new title reflects the communal…
Seven LPs on with the 14 May release of When We Wander, Jesse Terry continues to find fresh avenues to traverse with his songwriting. Given, he has prime inspiration. Largely inspired by his role as a father to his daughter,…
Some things contain a magic so special that your breath is literally taken away by the vision, scope and artistry present in the work; be it a painting, a poem, a meal or as in this album a collection of…
This album is like a single malt; delicious, delicately flavoured and perfectly poised to give you a brilliant time. The Light of The Moon is the first recording of all-original material by Gnoss, with seven instrumentals and four songs. When…
Will Graefe was incredibly lost when he recorded Marine Life. Retreating to his parents’ house in Massachusetts during the pandemic to lick his wounds after a relationship going bad finally collapsed, doesn’t seem like the ideal place to record a cathartic…
Invisible Music: folk songs that influenced Angela Carter is a literary, clever, erudite, elegantly crafted offering from Polly Paulusma. We are presented with a cornucopia rich in poetic images, harmonies and delightful performances. Interspersed with extracts from Angela Carter’s sublime…
The Michael Brinkworth household is known for cheesy omelettes, strong coffee, and jam sessions on the kitchen balcony that last well into the night. Walking through the door of the Australian singer-songwriter’s flat in Friedrichshain, Berlin is like stepping into…
Wax Moon’s Paul Kimball and John Blatchford were putting in the work for years before converging as a folk duo; Kimball with fronting cosmic country-rockers, Careless Hearts, and John as a multifarious musical force known for work with The Mumlers…
Based in California, Nancy Wenstrom delicately crafts country blues that wouldn’t be out of place in the Heartland. With her heartful vocals, Wenstrom commands haunting melodies with ease. This is wholly felt on her latest single, ‘Alabama Song’, with its…