Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq surprised many pundits by winning Canada’s Polaris Prize in 2014 ahead of a number of more established names, not least the Arcade Fire. The prize is awarded for ‘artistic integrity’ and, listening to Animism, Tagaq comes…
How would you describe your music? I try very hard not to describe it so as not to ruin it for anyone who might have their own idea what it is. I got really used to comparing it to the…
In the six years since Idlewild released Post Electric Blues, they’ve had a lengthy hiatus, put out a handful of solo projects, and ultimately realised that Idlewild was something worth holding on to. They’ve returned with a clear sense of…
Within folk, there’s a constant and essential need to remain within the acoustic, the wooden, the real. Crossing into unfamiliar instrumental territory can often fragment a delicately antiquated and almost traditional approach to the genre. Familiar up and down the…
It’s with pleasure that I greet the return of Swedish quintet The Amazing. Their 2011 album Gentle Stream was one of my favourite albums of that year, becoming something of an emotional touchstone thereafter. Its dynamic mix of minor key…
Gretchen Peters’ Blackbirds is bookended by two songs of the same name. The opener is electric and confrontational, the closer a milder and softer reprise. Powered by Peters’ voice – lived-in, loaded, tainted with regret – the chorus of the…