Richard Thompson will release his 20th studio album, “Hippies, Thugs and Heroes”, on October 16th via New West Records, and has shared the first single, “Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking” — a hustling London song carried by strutting, raw-nerve riffs. Recorded live in New Jersey with his touring band, the album is, in his words, “less them and more me”.

The Powers Ensemble share the mutant DNA of Will Oldham, “Astral Weeks” and Robbie Basho, and there’s a freshness to “Kindling” which is disarming but also makes your blood sing with recognition. Each song captures a communal rush of discovery — messy ecstasy achieved with flair and concision.

Clara Mann has announced her second album, “Wishbone”, out 23rd October via state51, and shared the lead single and video “News From Home”. Produced by Fabian Prynn in Norfolk, it follows 2025’s “Rift” — where that debut sat in a single strange, isolated shade of blue- “Wishbone” is built on contrast. A UK and European tour runs from September.

This week’s Monday Morning Brew features new tunes from M.G. Boulter & Jenny Sturgeon, Alex Dupree, Colin Stetson & Brighde Chaimbeul, Bitichin Bajas, Cinder Well, Minna, Jeffrey Silverstein, Le Ren, Ben McElroy, Jackson Hoyt & Kaia Kater, Karine Polwart, The Deep Dark Woods and more.

Eliza Carthy pays tribute to Martin Carthy on her new single ‘Mr Sits in the Dark’, out today on Hem-Hem Records and accompanied by a video created by Marry Waterson. Her new album, Frenemies, will follow in the Autumn, featuring special guests, including Jools Holland, Robyn Hitchcock, Miranda Richardson, and more, with a special album launch party at Dingwalls on October 22nd.

KLOF No. 91 gathers fourteen tracks from albums we’ve been reviewing: Kevin Coleman’s “K.C. Blues”, Dan Haywood and Harvey Lord’s “Ten Signs”, Creekbed Carter Hogan’s “Peasants Revolt”, Cinder Well’s “A Blooming Body” and Nick Granata’s debut “My Heart is Running Backwards!…”. Martin Carthy returns from the “Along The Road Forever” boxset, live at Sidmouth in 1978, plus The Modern Folk, Andrew Weathers, Tucker Zimmerman and Stella Kola.

Creekbed Carter Hogan’s “Peasants Revolt” acknowledges the possibility of an imminent apocalypse but is steeped in medieval uprisings, the Haitian Revolution, twenty-first-century trans activism and Americana. The songs are exuberant in their difference, and it’s the sudden shifts to or from the personal that make it such a unique album. A detailed American pastoral, beautiful and powerful.

Kevin Coleman’s “K.C. Blues” is happy to sweep through styles and moods, bringing in experimental folk, Americana and blues over six tracks and forty minutes. Made in bedrooms and basements, it is looser and more open-ended than “Imaginary Conversations”, each musician seamlessly contributing to a coherent sound. An exciting, impressive album that rewards deep listening.

Samuel Blaney created “Island Rains” in moonlit reverie on the west coast of Ireland, with Adem Ilhan and Neil MacColl colouring the songs without ever overwhelming them. You can hear the influence of a life pared back to essentials, and a tangible sense of how tending something small becomes a way of steadying yourself against the wider world.

Boyhood (Caylie Runciman) has announced a new album, “I’ll Dream InStead,” out October 23rd via Hand Drawn Dracula, alongside lead single “Loner.” Recorded largely alone on her bed through a rural winter, the album marks a period of renewal for Runciman, who calls it evidence that she’s “found herself again.” She tours North America this summer.

Tōth has shared a live performance of “Easy,” recorded with the 85-voice Brooklyn Choir Project at a Brooklyn church. Taken from his acclaimed album “And The Voice Said,” the song builds from hushed verses to a full-choir climax, turning Tōth’s private refrain into a group affirmation. Out now via Egghunt/Northern Spy.

Tommy Oeffling has announced his new album, Neighbors, out October 30th on 22TWENTY, alongside a video for lead single “Daily on Eggshells.” Directed by Caiden Dohr, the video introduces an album inspired by James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” folding one Saturday in Oeffling’s Milwaukee neighbourhood into a record he wrote, played and recorded almost entirely alone.

Nick Granata’s debut solo album, “My Heart is Running Backwards! A Martial Artist! With a Closed Fist! Woof!”, is an ambitious album of astonishing breadth and endless personality. A member of the Shovel Dance Collective, Granata largely plays down the wackiness of that title in favour of genuine sonic experimentation and a joyously queer heart.

Teenage Fanclub have shared “Day In The Sun,” the lead single from their new album “Do Not Dare To Dream,” with a video filmed on Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides. Lush multi-part harmonies and 60s jangle, a harp opening and a subtle vox wah, all sparkling with Californian psych glow. Out 9th October via Merge Records.

Josaleigh Pollett’s fourth full-length album, “If I Let It Quiet”, is an absolute treasure trove of textural, dynamic and living electronic pop music, born out of a cross-continent collaboration with producer Jordan Watko. A whirlwind affair of vast sonic experiences, some out in full view, some hidden beneath the surface — a glowing, sparking dreamworld that beckons repeated listening.

Neil Young’s songbook gets two more tribute volumes: “Heart of Gold” Vol. 2 – “Out of the Blue” and Vol. 3 – “Into the Black” arrive on 6th November, benefiting The Bridge School. King Princess covers “Helpless” and Draco Rosa reworks “After the Gold Rush”, leading a cast of more than twenty that includes My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse and Lucinda Williams.

Jeffrey Silverstein shares “Portland Works”, the latest single from new album “Doggone” (23rd October, Full Time Hobby). A full-bodied psychedelic song, it cruises on a deep-seated groove and breezy summer pacing, saving its headiest moment for the outro. It follows “Out of Tune”, his Devendra Banhart collaboration, and lands with an animated visualiser by Squeeeeee Animations.

Susanna premieres a live video of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” — a song Susanna first recorded twenty years ago with Susanna and the Magical Orchestra on “Melody Mountain”. People still ask for it at her concerts; here she performs it alongside guitarist Juhani Silvola, whom she has played alongside as a duo since 2020.