On their covers album ‘Songs Of The Recollection’, featuring songs from Neil Young, Bowie, Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Gram Parsons, Vic Chesnutt and more, the Cowboy Junkies have put together a highly engaging stop-gap while we wait for the follow up to Ghosts.
The Hanging Stars’ last three albums saw them teetering on greatness. Wearing their cosmic country and late 60s West Coast folk-rock influences on their sleeve, Hollow Heart should rightly push them over the edge; it’s their best yet.
On River Fools & Moutain Saints, Ian Noe takes inspiration from autobiography, the Appalachian community and observations of the characters that inhabit it, but the emotions he touches on and the stories he tells have a universal resonance.
Driven by awe and wonder, hope and joy, Iona Lane’s ‘Hallival’ is a masterful debut. Subtle musical touches and contemplative warm vocals combine to make this one of the most rewarding albums of the year.
Ben & Dom are two friendly new faces to these pages. Taken from their forthcoming EP ‘Shoulder’, watch the video for their lead single ‘By Your Side’. In an age of growing social isolation, could you ask for warmer words?
Simon J Jones’ ‘How Things Work’ is a delight from start to finish, celebrating simpler times but with the pioneering spirit of the Ladybird books. Creating stories and soundscapes that seem very current but are somehow timeless, this album is a significant artistic achievement.
Irish singer Eva Coyle premieres her beautiful new video for her latest single ‘Down to The Shore’ that marries musical influences from her native Ireland and Scandinavia. If she’s not on your radar, then she should be.
Northern song and storytelling trio Harp & a Monkey have organised a special one-off show (26 March) to mark the centenary of a unique pilgrimage undertaken by grieving parents at the end of the First World War.
While Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves’ debut rightfully saw them critically acclaimed as a shining new force in string band music; Hurricane Clarice shows their light to be even brighter.
Stick In The Wheel announce a new tour celebrating their recent mixtape release, Tonebeds for Poetry – lost civilisations, inertia, beats music, sludge, drone, glitch and the sounds of the city, held together with ancient word-glue, repurposed to deliver vital, urgent messages for now.
Born of a shared love of acoustic guitar, metal and traditional Irish music, Dublin 4-piece, The Scratch have arguably dropped their best single to date called ‘Another Round’. Watch the accompanying video – it’s also our Song of the Day.
Firelight Trio are a new Scottish band featuring Ruth Morris, Gavin Marwick and Phil Alexander. Watch them performing Balkanpolska, a tune that captures the grace, energy and playfulness of this top-calibre trio of musicians.
