At the delicate intersection of traditional clàrsach artistry and contemporary folk, Anna McLuckie’s upcoming album, The Little Winters, offers a cartography of the soul. Due for release on 17 April 2026 via Hudson Records, the Edinburgh-born musician explores the liminal space between seasons—both meteorological and personal. The record borrows its title from an American term (especially common in Southern Appalachian folklore) of late-spring frosts, signalled by the blooming of five specific plants: Redbud, Dogwood, Locust, Blackberry, and Britches. In McLuckie’s hands, these botanical markers become metaphors for the unexpected “bites” of cold that arrive just as one expects warmth, serving as essential indicators for growth and timing.
Written during a decadal shift from Manchester to London, the album is anchored by the Gaelic concept of Cianalas—a deep, visceral ache for a specific home. McLuckie shares:
“Having left Scotland at seventeen it surprised me that a whole decade later I suddenly started to feel this loss of place hit me with force. I realised that in uprooting myself I had discovered a neglected, detached root which was looking for new soil.”
That sentiment of needing to put down new roots vibrates through a narrative arc moving from the soft eulogies of New Northern Lullaby to the burgeoning urban wonder of Jay Bird. Released today, the lead single, “Bitten Winter Skin,” functions as the record’s intellectual and emotional anchor. Composed in the fading light of her childhood bedroom, the track captures the exact moment where nostalgia meets resolve. Her refrain—”Next year I will bring, none of this bitterness, just Bitten Winter Skin”—suggests that while we cannot avoid the frost of life, we can choose to wear its marks as a form of seasoned resilience rather than resentment.
Stream/Save: https://hudsonrecords.ffm.to/bittenwinterskin
Recorded live in a North London garden studio with longtime collaborators, the production preserves an essential, human intimacy. The interplay between McLuckie’s clàrsach, Awen Blandford’s cello, and Sean Rogan’s banjo creates an expansive folk sound that feels less like a performance and more like a shared breath. It is a record that doesn’t just observe the change of seasons; it inhabits the cold until the thaw finally arrives.
The Little Winters will be released on Hudson Records on 17 April 2026.