Finally, this was the year when everything felt like it had returned to normal. There was always an abundance of gigs to get to, the full spread of festivals that we had taken for granted previously and best of all, the stream of new releases was constant, feeling at times like exciting discoveries were arriving on a daily basis. So, the list below leaves many fine albums out, especially from the Folk Radio world, but it does represent a list that I would fight anyone who wants to argue against (not really, I am quite a pacifist in person). Still, despite my numerous fresh finds, the top ten list is mainly artists I have admired for years, still producing incredible, sometimes the best, work of their career.
The Wave Pictures – When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings
After over two decades of topflight entertaining activity, I would like to put forward a motion that The Wave Pictures are fast approaching national treasure status. I cannot fathom how this trio are not a household name. I saw them this year at the End Of The Road festival filling in for a late absentee, and they absolutely smashed a mid-afternoon set of sun-drenched garage rockers plucked indiscriminately from their back pages. OK, they had a fill-in drummer for the set, but even that brought an element of charm as they kept playfully tricking the poor chap with false endings. The lack of grandeur, and the impression that they do not take themselves too seriously, is part of the charm for sure but do not be fooled; there is phenomenal talent here, not least David Tattersall’s effortless dexterity on the guitar. They continue to write great, infectious, sardonic, witty and heartfelt songs that sit in a fusion zone fuelled by a unique amalgamation of The Housemartins, Cream, The Kinks, Jeffrey Lewis and weird outsider vintage US garage bands. Best of all, they continue to put out great albums and this extensive, double LP length collection with a side of vinyl each reflecting one of the four seasons is one of their best. Winners all the way, I cannot say this strongly enough, do not be seduced by self-aggrandising lesser bands in the mainstream; the modest to-a-fault The Wave Pictures are where it’s at. We are incredibly lucky to have a band this good entertaining us in 2022.
Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Another sprawling double LP to get your teeth into; it is beyond belief how this band have been so prolific over the past seven years and can still put out a collection of twenty songs like this without any dips in quality. And the thing about Big Thief is they can sail effortlessly across musical styles; this record has distinct echoes of Americana, Country, Psych-Blues and dusty Folk balladry whilst retaining at all times their core essence of Big Thief sound. They are one of a small group of acts who, no matter what type of song they perform, you know instantly the band playing because they are so locked as a unit to that unique sound. The heart-wrenching moments are tempered by flashes of outright playfulness, just check out ‘Spud Infinity’ for proof of that, and the whole technicolour journey unwraps fresh layers of audio pleasure with each play, an album to lose yourself in.
Leyla McCalla – Breaking The Thermometer
An artist who has yet to put out any music that has not positively caught my attention. This was a record with a broad thematic scope, compiled following a commission to write new music based around Radio Haiti, a broadcaster from the Caribbean country with a reputation for uncovering political corruption. The song suite is stitched together by found sound and old radio clips. Still, McCalla goes even further with her brief, taking the opportunity for a deep dive into Haitian music culture in a quest for deeper understanding. And even though she often sings in the native Haitian Creole, the force of her musical eloquence still cuts through emotionally on what is an impossibly powerful record.
Molly Tuttle & The Golden Highway – Crooked Tree
For me, the essential new Bluegrass release of the year because Tuttle hit it with a fresh approach and a songwriter’s hand. With a pile of songs built up at the offset, she took to recording in a live setting with as many musicians crammed into the room as possible, an approach which gave the music room for air and, in tandem with the genre’s roots, leaving plenty of space for other players to join the cast. And what a cast, big names like Margo Price, The Old Crow Medicine Show and Gillian Welch all make an appearance here, happy to ride the Bluegrass train with Molly’s ensemble and embark on an albums journey that is absolutely joyous.
Sharron Kraus – KIN
An album ideal for the chilly winter months, Sharron’s music, which of late has worn a delightful immediacy, simultaneously is at one with the chill in the air whilst it wraps the listener up in warmth. How she casts this spell I would not wish to deconstruct; it is there in the magical way her singing and more identifiably folky tunesmithery is juxtaposed to dissonant electronica and progressive sounding organs, recorders and synths; the effect is both soothing and unsettling.
Kevin Morby – This Is A Photograph
Tied together by the ‘photograph’ theme, which, over the course of the whole album, swims through the memories, thoughts, feelings, sensations and pathways of the mind and reminiscence that can be triggered by a simple picture from the past. Stimulation from a single premise of an idea suits Morby well, he is rarely reclined in melancholy throughout this record, and he often attacks the material with pounding Rock urgency. The vocal delivery is pitched somewhere between Lou Reed and Tom Petty, while the instrumentation is a boiling brew of crunching guitars, decorative acoustics and puffing percussion. Kevin Morby’s career has serious momentum right now; one of the essential songwriters to come out of the US this century.
Loudon Wainwright III – Lifetime Achievement
Much like the man he was compared to early in his career, Bob Dylan, Loudon Wainwright III composes new music these days in full awareness of his age. He even opens this fine album with that classic acoustic guitar and harmonica combination, but, where Dylan is more abstract in his musings, Loudon cannot help but flex his humour muscles even when tackling potentially difficult subjects. The overall effect is stunning, with lines that reference farting whenever he sneezes and how a family vacation should be a holiday from your closest family, balancing ponderings like the uncertainty at your time of passing in ‘How Old Is 75?’. Loudon sings about the biggest personal traumas in life, making you smile and prompting a tear with equal frequency; he remains a rare kind of talent.
Andrew Bird – Inside Problems
For me, it was Andrew Bird’s 2012 album ‘Break It Yourself’ where he really demanded attention. Always a performer to catch the eye with one-man band antics, building up layers of his multi-instrumental facility as loops to reveal a fully produced song before your very eyes. But by then, it became obvious he was also writing incredible songs that could outlive any gimmicks of their creator. And so, it has continued, ‘Inside Problems’ is another masterclass in the modern singer-songwriter craft; from the exaltation of the title track, the shuffling hooks of ‘Lone Didion’ or the lightening of the stasis sung of in ‘Fixed Positions,’ this is all super quality stuff, right down to Andrew’s trademark whistling solos.
Kathryn Williams – Night Drives
It may have had something to do with the production of Ed Harcourt, but I would assume that it is more to do with the ever-evolving musical grain of Kathryn Williams that this sounds like a modern baroque-pop masterpiece. At the core of every track is a lushly composed song presented with audio that has multiple hidden levels, unexpected bursts of unsettling noise or a wallpapering of strings and orchestral serenity. There are Beatle-like mellotron sounds here and melodies that navigate major/minor contortions there. And somehow, signposted by the title, it all sounds dark and nocturnal; a satisfying album in both sound and vision.
Angeline Morrison – The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs Of Black British Experience
Finally, an artist who was new to me in 2022, an album and performer on the receiving end of an unusual, for a traditional Folk record, amount of publicity prior to release. When she appeared on an episode of ‘Later With Jools Holland,’ I needed no further explanation. That is all I would say to anyone reading this unaware of Angeline’s music; just go and dig out that clip. Setting out on this project to explore the Black British experience within Folk music via her own compositions, she created something that was undeniably visceral whilst being learned in its intentions too. No doubt, the instrumental and production touches of Eliza Carthy embedded the music with pure folk credentials. Still, it would not exist without Angeline Morrison’s vision, resulting in an album that is both traditional in sound and definitively right for the present day.