Good Habits’ “Better for Now” pushes outwards, from festival-ready trance-folk to intimate acoustic balladry. An overriding spirit of positivity runs through songs about body image and burnout, all carried on buoyant melodies. The result is a blend of virtuosity and sheer vitality, making them one of the most exciting bands on the British folk scene right now, and one of the most technically accomplished. 

Verdin Brothers’ “The Crooked Serpent” stitches together blues, Creole, bluegrass and drone into something all their own, with a healthy dollop of the weird. A companion recording, “The Great Work,” gives each song something like an alter ego. A singular work of high art and painstaking detail.

Martin Simpson’s “Some Kind of Jubilee” is a seventeen-song double album, made in the US and the UK to mark half a century since his debut. Veterans and newcomers play alongside him. The music is rich without ever being overplayed, and the vocals are warm and engaging. The album is a real achievement and a career highlight. Take a bow.

James Yorkston announces “La Magnifica”, a career-spanning double album, out November 27th on Domino. It picks from his 15 albums for the label, from the early Athletes days to his most recent Swedish collaborations with Nina Persson and Johanna Söderberg. The first of two new songs is also out today, accompanied by a video directed by Lewis Baillie.

Biita Houdei’s solo debut “This Bed Was Made For Me” challenges quickfire disposability head-on. She sewed a patch for each of its fourteen songs, then recorded them over ten full, back-to-back days. The result exudes personality and feeling, a testament to the slow process and the commitment and patience required to create a complete work of art.

Jason McNiff talks through his latest album, Ten Blue Songs, which was recorded and produced live by Trevor Moss. Clarinet, double bass, piano, and violin accompany him on an album whose influences include Italo Calvino, Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, and guitar legend Davy Graham. “This album is evidence of our working life and couldn’t exist without the gigs”.

Fermanagh-born, Dublin-based composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist RÓIS, aka Rose Connolly, has signed to Domino Records. Her critically acclaimed 2024 album, MO LÉAN, will be reissued globally – remastered with a brand-new track, “PORT NA H-EALA”. Watch her performing “WHAT DO YOU SAY (LIVE FROM A WAKE)”.

Smithsonian Folkways will reissue Michael Hurley’s 1964 debut “First Songs” on vinyl on November 6th. Frederic Ramsey Jr. originally recorded it at home in New Jersey on the reel-to-reel machine he used for Lead Belly’s Last Sessions. Mike Monseur has remastered it, and it comes in the original black gatefold. Watch the video for his classic ‘The Werewolf Song’, which was animated by Hurley’s friend Drew Christie.