Welcome to Part 4 of our Best Folk Albums of 2018 (Read part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3). The purpose of this list is not just to highlight what I may consider the best but also to share with you a journey through the year. The albums I’ve chosen range from the experimental through to the traditional and in many ways reflects the breadth of what we cover on Folk Radio UK. This is just a small part of a much bigger journey but it’s one I hope you enjoy us sharing with you. The list below does not run to the end of the year, so some of our most recent reviews in December are not included – I had to stop somewhere and I wanted to get this out to you all before Christmas so be sure to check all our reviews and Featured Albums here. Also, the list does not include live albums, re-issues or compilations.
One last thing…as Editor, I always send albums that I love to our reviewers, so, as far as I’m concerned, the many albums we have reviewed over the past year have already made the cut. OK, that’s enough waffling, here are the next 20 albums in no particular order.
Listen to the accompanying Best Folk Albums of 2018 Spotify Playlist which will grow as we reveal more of this year’s highlights.
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Best Folk Albums of 2018
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Dàimh – The Rough Bounds (Goat Island Music)
The Rough Bounds is filled with Dàimh’s typically rich, skilful arrangements. Those arrangements are never over-worked, though – they are as varied and, at times, as breath-taking as the corner of Gaeldom that is the band’s home, and from which the album takes its name. From the Gaelic Na Garbh Chrìochan, The Rough Bounds covers the North Morar and Moidart peninsulas. It’s an area of wild country, steeped in history. 20 years into their own history, Dàimh’s reputation as writers and interpreters of traditional Gaelic music, for a contemporary audience, goes from strength to strength. With each successive release, Dàimhseem to exceed their aspirations, creating and recording peerless new music. The Rough Boundsis an exceptional album, from an exceptional band.
You Are Wolf – KELD (Firecrest Records)
Kerry Andrew is an acclaimed composer and vocalist, and You Are Wolf is her alt.folk project. KELD, her second album, is both ethereal and down-to-earth, deeply connected to tradition while at the same time spiced with tasteful experimental production courtesy of producer Majiker, known from his work with French alt-pop queen Camille. Minimalist to a fault and with the vocals front and centre…KELD is an album of eerie, understated beauty that combines folk traditions with experimental soundscapes. Both timeless and modern, it connects old and new and adds another fascinating chapter to the ever-evolving saga of British folk music.
Iona Fyfe – Away from my Window (Cairnie Records)
Aberdeenshire singer Iona Fyfe is still only 20 years of age, and yet she’s already amassed an impressive CV. She started off as BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award semi-finalist in 2015 and her latest win was for the Scots Singer of the Year at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards held earlier this month. While her tone is youthful and abundantly charming, the sense of assurance in her delivery is astonishing for someone of her tender years. On the variety of moods required for the selection of songs she tackles here, Iona proves herself more than able to cope with, and rise above, the demands and challenges they present, and her aim is true throughout. I must finally draw your attention to the extremely high quality of the presentation of this disc – it comes with a full-colour booklet containing notes on the songs, their sources and Iona’s anecdotes where relevant, together with complete texts. An object lesson in how to release an album, one that both demands to be taken seriously and affectionately enthuses in order to ensure maximum listener pleasure from its contents. I’ll be very surprised indeed if Away From My Window doesn’t feature in the year’s best-of lists.
Eddi Reader – Cavalier (Reveal Records)
…Cavalier brings us one more Burns song – A Man’s A Man For A’ That. One of many politically charged songs by Burns, it’s a joy to hear Eddi sing this at last. The style is typically contemporary and laid-back, but still, when she sings Burns, every single time she sings Burns, there’s a quiet devotion in the delivery that has no comparison. That could, in fact, summarise just what is so irresistible about Eddi’s voice. She sings with a gentle passion that you draw in like a soft breath of clear, fresh air. Every genre she performs, she’s totally comfortable. This is an album that moves in several directions, and each time it’s a journey of discovery. After almost 40 years as a performer, Cavalier proves that Eddi Reader’s talent as a singer, arranger and writer has never diminished, her music shines bright as ever.
Hamish Napier – The Railway (Strathspey Records)
With a cue from a conductor’s whistle, soft electric piano steadily gathers pace in perfect time to the sound of a departing steam train. It’s a beautifully evocative start to Hamish Napier‘s second solo album, The Railway; and as The Speyside Line evolves into a breezy melody that sweeps along with bass, drums, flute and delightful interplay between strings and piano, there’s no doubt we’re about to embark on a fascinating journey…To be honest, Hamish Napier could write an album about an empty field and it would still impress, but writing music about his native Speyside definitely seems to bring out the very best. The Railway really is a truly delightful journey. As expected, this is music that makes the heart sing.
Jackie Oates – The Joy Of Living (ECC Records)
The last two tracks on The Joy Of Living – Davey Steele’s The Last Trip Home and John Tams’ Rolling Home – form the most heartfelt and fitting tribute to Oates’ father. The former is a kind of final call to arms, a song about coming to terms with your place and time on Earth. The latter is simply one of the most moving pieces of music I have ever heard – the only extant recording of Oates’ father’s singing, but joined by an overdub of Oates herself to create a musical dialogue that stretches time and transcends generations. As the original recording fades out and Oates’ unaccompanied voice alone remains, we are left tearful but somehow full of hope. As a conclusion to a compelling, spirited emotional rollercoaster of an album, it is quite perfect.
Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay – The Hawksworth Grove Sessions (Cambrian Records)
Before either of their 2018 solo albums was recorded these two guitarists camped in a house in Leeds for a couple of days to put to tape a fairly brief but always intriguing set of ten tracks, all recorded live without overdubs…Final track ‘Arran to Aboyne’ is a travel tune, which is an art the pair are masters at. Toby’s recent ‘Leaving Chicago’ is a good example of his strength as an evocative travelling music composer, while Jim’s ‘Home for Moss Valley’ beautifully guides the listener through five miles of border country. Here the melody creates a strong spine for the piece, while the pair take it in turns running around the fretboard or managing to get their instrument to sound like a harp, before coming back to the tune itself. It’s another piece of gorgeously played music that arrives at its destination without a fuss and closes a set to lose yourself in. Hawksworth Grove is a lovely album; calming, rousing and beautifully played throughout.
Trembling Bells – Dungeness (Tin Angel)
Dungeness forms both a logical next-tableau in their “constant pageant” and an equally logical temporal advance into a brave new world of harder-edged power-folk-rock, also providing further persuasive evidence of the ever-broadening evolutionary (and revolutionary) scope of their music. Trembling Bells are still very much a force to be reckoned with, of that let me leave you in no doubt.
Moore Moss Rutter – III (Hudson Records)
Crucially, the journey never feels laboured. There is a different view to enjoy at every turn. The music is so rich in detail and so personally, lovingly crafted that it will reveal new facets and deeper resonances with every listen. It is suffused with pastoral light but anchored in earthy realism, unshowy but technically innovative, driven by emotion but never sentimental. III is a folk album played with the inventiveness of jazz and the control of chamber music. If it is the end of a project, the culmination of something, then it is tempting to ask what Moore Moss Rutter will do next. With any luck, it will be another perfect set of three.
Siobhan Miller – Mercury (Songprint Recordings)
Mercury has a clear, vibrant sound that holds a wide appeal; a rich and perfectly balanced blend of traditional and contemporary sounds. It could be said that Siobhan Miller has found a winning formula with her music, but that would be doing her a disservice. There’s nothing formulaic about Siobhan’s music, it’s as natural and honest as any album that finds a contemporary voice for traditional roots. Mercury builds on the strength of its two thoroughly impressive predecessors, in an album of outstanding quality that delights with its music, and enthrals with its song.
Phillip Henry – True North (Dragonfly Roots)
This beautiful, spiritual journey of an album finds Phillip Henry fully living up to the accolades that have and will continue to be thrown his way. True North is a passion project and a lesson in minimalism and focus through music without a note wasted throughout the set; it is indeed the sound of a virtuoso and a master of his instrument, displaying innate and gathered techniques. Just make sure you get the hard copy with the liner notes that add even more richness to the tunes; they complete an absolutely splendid recording of uncommonly deep and textured music that feels unique and is utterly spellbinding throughout.
Sam Sweeney – The Unfinished Violin (Universal-Island Records)
To end at the beginning, then, we live in a golden age of folk music. There is more of it about than ever before, and it’s never been easier to access. There are good and great albums by interesting artists working closely with powerful themes that they are thoroughly and engrossingly engaged with. Among the good albums released in any given year, there are a handful that go on to become landmarks. Only time will tell if this is the case with TheUnfinished Violin. It certainly deserves to be one. Not simply because of the points made above, but also for this: by using Howard’s violin to draw attention to his story, Sweeney also draws attention to the album’s most powerful point: that the music continues although the players do not, and that we pick it up, add to it, and become part of it for the brief time we are here, before laying it down for others. The music allows us to see them and will allow others in the future to see us as we were too. As such, this album is vital and powerful, and simply gorgeous.
Matt McGinn – The End of the Common Man (Self Released)
Matt McGinn is a Belfast-based big-voiced singer-songwriter who brings together blues, folk, alt-country and soul under a blue-collar umbrella. McGinn’s first release, Crossroads Sessions, was a live EP with Ben Glover. His latest provides ample argument for him warranting the same sort of acclaim afforded his erstwhile collaborator. The End of the Common Man is his strongest and most confident step forward to date.
The Willows – Through the Wild (Elk Records)
Through The Wild’s last song, and perhaps its crowning moment, is the intensely personal Dear Lilly, Jade Rhiannon’s tribute to her great aunt, who lived to be over a hundred and who lost her husband early in their marriage. The song and the album draw to a close with a wash of harmonising voices and a simple, emotionally charged fiddle refrain. It is a final, cleansing moment in an album that is full of emotional peaks and troughs, and it rounds off a wholly triumphant return from one of the most exciting, fresh and talented bands around today.
Richard Thompson – 13 Rivers (Proper records)
Much like with his Jeff Tweedy-produced 2015 album Still and of course with the recent Acoustic Classics ii, on 13 Rivers, Richard Thompson‘s first self-produced set in over a decade, the production is fuss-free. It allows his regular trio band room and time to really get their teeth into the arrangements and send these strong writings out into the world in a minimal muscular framework. Confidence is key here and throughout because it positively oozes from 13 Rivers, which is a powerful, intelligent, multi-faceted and beautifully performed selection of consistently strong pieces. It’s also a ton of fun and a genuine high point in Thompson’s career; a record that should be chewed on and discussed for many years to come.
Damien O’Kane & Ron Block – Banjophony (Pure Records)
Banjophony really does seem to have something for everyone, it also seems to have far more than anyone expected. In an album running to 15 tracks, you might expect a collection of short, frenetic bluegrass sets coupled with a few traditional Irish airs. That, though, would have been far too easy. None of these tracks is under four minutes long, and each one represents an expertly executed blend of musical forms from both sides of the Atlantic. There’s a connectivity among the musicians that goes far beyond simply sharing a melody; it’s an exchange of ideas and influences and a platform to explore them. Individually Damien O’Kane & Ron Block are masters of their instruments. In Banjophony, they’ve taken a collective approach to create an album of incredibly captivating music.
Hannah Rarity – Neath the Gloaming Star (Self-Released)
A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Hannah has a natural gift for, and a great love of, traditional Scots song – which is clear from the moment the album opens. It’s clear that Hannah Rarity is already well established in her performing career, and all that early promise comes to fruit in this superb album. With Hannah’s crystal clear voice, sparkling production and thoroughly engaging arrangements, Neath the Gloaming Star is a must-have album for anyone with a love for Scots traditional and contemporary song.
The Young’uns – The Ballad Of Johnny Longstaff (Hereteu Records)
After the third verse, the trio’s voices drop out and are replaced by a recording of Longstaff himself singing the final two verses. He is audibly emotional, and the slight crack in his voice as the song ends is one of the most heartfelt things you will ever hear. It’s true that this is a thoroughly modern album in many ways – the interactive website is a treat, and the whole package is beautifully presented – but in the final notes sung by Longstaff there is a weight of history and a longing for a better world that makes any thought of modernity, of current musical or technological trends, pale into insignificance. The Ballad Of Johnny Longstaff contains the past and it contains the future. It is a special achievement by an extremely talented group.
Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – Personae (I Scream Music UK)
And it’s clear from the title of the album that the pair have an understanding of the difference between what you present on the outside to what’s really happening under the surface… And Personae, their fifth full album together, is their most outwardly appealing yet. But doesn’t neglect to offer something deeper too. Through their last two albums, Hidden People and Tomorrow Will Follow Today, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman have steadily grown in reputation and admiration. And they have reached a peak with Personae, a fine and accessible album on the surface but built on firm foundations of skilful songwriting, world-class arrangements and performances underneath. A rare pairing of style and substance, much like the duo themselves.
Lucy Ward – Pretty Warnings (Betty Beetroot Records)
With Pretty Warnings, Lucy has surpassed all previous recordings to release a sublime album of the highest quality…a mesmerising, exquisite album which succeeds in mixing sometimes delicate, always thoughtful, image-laden originals with fresh, innovative re-workings of songs from the traditional folk canon. If Lucy was a painter, she would be Van Gogh like every single brush-stroke each of her lines carry passion, neither one word too many nor one too few, every note has its place in the composition, painstakingly selected, the listener is drawn in, engaged and emotionally challenged/ affected.