Each time, I wonder how on earth Luke Jackson will surpass his previous album, but he manages to do so. With ‘Bloom’, he does so spectacularly, with dramatic moments and some hugely impressive storytelling.

Welsh songwriter and instrumentalist The Gentle Good announces new album Elan, a psychedelic portrait of the Elan Valley in Powys, Wales, and shares his vibrant lead single and our Song of the Day – Tachwedd (Welsh for November).

The exquisite vocal arrangements on ‘Great Joy to the New’ will excite and amaze as much as any of Janice Burns and Jon Doran’s previous work, and the brass arrangements pack such a punch that they put a smile on my face every time.

Subtly understated in its melodies and delivery but with a profound depth of emotion, Letitia VanSant & David McKindley-Ward’s ‘Eye of the Storm’ is a deep album that sings to their musical chemistry – we hope it marks the start of a journey.

Julie Fowlis & Karine Polwart are to collaborate on a new album with Mary Chapin Carpenter.  Looking For The Thread is out on January 24th 2025 with Thirty Tigers worldwide, ahead of which they have shared a new single titled ‘Hold Everything’.

‘Safe Then Sorry’ may only be the second CIAO MALZ EP, the solo project of Brooklyn-based songwriter Malia DelaCruz, but it’s a real gem, and it already seems likely that DelaCruz has a big future.

Coinciding with her 80th Birthday, Vashti Bunyan announces Lookaftering – Expanded Edition, a reissue of her legendary second album, that includes demos, alternate takes and a live performance. Listen to a demo recording of ‘If I Were’.

From recordings discovered on some dusty tapes in Yuma County Library, Charles ‘Poppy Bob’ Walker’s ‘Dirt Bike Vacation is quietly groundbreaking while containing some of the most modest guitar music you will hear. It’s probably my favourite release of the year.

Very much in a classic 60s coffee house folk troubadour vein, ‘Love, Dan’ is C. Daniel  Boling’s latest offering; he just keeps on producing albums of outstanding quality.

Throughout the gig at Whelan’s, Oisín Leech was in his element, deferring to the traditions that taught him so well. He’s that rare thing – a songwriter of the highest order who is also breathtakingly humble.

Beth Malcolm’s Folkmosis is a spellbinding album that speaks not only to the music and heritage that lives within her heart but also to how the music of our homelands can root us in identity and place, however far away from home we may be.

I cannot recall feeling the Royal Albert Hall more alive with restless anticipation minutes before Bob Dylan’s arrival, nor can I think of a more joyous roar erupting when the main attraction arrives on stage for a night of plentiful highlights and some revelations.