D.C Cross’s “Open Guitar (Volume Two)” documents thirteen acoustic guitar improvisations across 3.5 hours, using locations across Australia — and their ambient sounds — to add subtle texture. The constant rush of water on Rainforest Maleny, the bird calls that punctuate This Sound at Dusk (Hobbit Tree): these details allow Cross to ease up and let the natural world share the space. Complex, experienced playing; take some time and explore.

On “Just A Day”, The Hanging Stars strip their sound back to its essence with the help of producer Gerard Love. Richard Olson continues to demonstrate his facility for tapping into the most memorable tunes while bringing to bear the wisdom and empathy that only life experience brings. The album proves the opposite of its title — they’re in it for the long haul.

case/lang/veirs have announced a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of their self-titled 2016 album, due 4 September via Anti- Records. Alongside comes “Accidental Tattoo”, a previously-unreleased track written by all three. The expanded edition adds the new song and 12 live recordings from the original tour to the album’s 14 tracks.

Cinder Well’s “Beyond The Pale” is the second preview of “A Blooming Body”, due July 17th via Hen House Studios. Amelia Baker describes it as “a hangover, a break-up, a migraine, a confessional.” The video, directed by Chelsea “Cheech” Moosekian, came to Baker in a dream. Greg Cohen — bassist for Tom Waits and John Zorn — plays on the track, alongside Phillip Rogers and David Ralicke on clarinet.

MorganEve Swain’s “Babylon”, the second album from The Huntress and Holder of Hands, is a vivid, heavily weighted folk-rock album that traces how grief changes shape over time. Over a decade on from losing her husband Dave Lamb, Swain channels that long private reckoning into something communal and forward-looking — moving and epic, with a rough-hewn buoyancy that ultimately nudges toward light.

Arun Sood and Angeline Morrison announce Donn/Dubh, a debut collaborative album due 7 August on Real World X. Rooted in shared Hebridean heritage spanning Scotland, Jamaica and India, the twelve-track collection pulls folk melodies apart and reassembles them over bass-heavy beats, synths and drones. Lead single ‘A Rìbhinn a Bheil Cuimhn’ Agad’ and its accompanying video are out now.

Sir Richard Bishop shares “Back Forty Lashes”, the ferocious, trance-inducing second single and self-directed video from “Hillbilly Erotica”, out July 31st on Drag City. A sequel of sorts to 2025’s “Hillbilly Ragas”, it carries Bishop’s argument with the “American Primitive” tag deeper into rural Tennessee. He’s on his US tour now through the summer, but stops in the UK for the Green Man Festival in August.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy performs “They Keep Trying to Find You” on Later… with Jools Holland — a powerful airing of the lead single from “We Are Together Again”. The song confronts the temptation to bury your head in the sand as outside pressures mount, Will Oldham pitting the darkness within against the darkness without. Watch his unforgettable performance now.

Styrofoam Winos share “Somebody Wants to Send You a Message,” the final single before their new album “Any River.” Joe Kenkel wrote the upbeat choogle after a bot’s “somebody wants to send you a message” notification herded him into a group chat. It’s capped by a face-melting bass clarinet solo from Jim Marlowe, the only non-Wino to play on the record.

“Stash,” the second album from BCMC — the Chicago guitar-and-keys duo of Bill MacKay and Cooper Crain — pulls a range of styles from their minimalist set-up. More excitable than 2023’s “Foreign Smokes,” the musicians are happy to explore dynamically within a song. This is a generous, joyous album, brimming with life, energy and a real love of music.

Two Runner announce their second album, “PORCHLIGHT”, out August 28th via Gar Hole Records, and share new single and video “Strawberry Rhinestone”. Paige Anderson marks a transitional collection — goodbyes to a longtime musical partner and a decade-long relationship — though the songs stay warm and steady, resolute and tender-hearted, with the earnestness that has earned Two Runner years of praise.

Carson McHone shares a video for “The Canvas” and announces her first UK and European headline dates since “Pentimento”, her acclaimed third album. Crossing the Atlantic in August and September, she builds a band with Hollow Hand’s Max Kinghorn-Mills, plays three performances as a trio with Kinghorn-Mills and multi-disciplinary artist Fliss Horrocks, and takes in a slot at End of the Road Festival.