On Gem Andrews latest album she uses dark country to tackle themes of mental illness, poverty, community and destitution. A strong album – this is a  magnetic North, indeed.

On 2 March 2018 Ginger Wildheart is to release his new album, the aptly titled ‘Ghost In The Tanglewood’. A seamless mix of country, folk, roots and rock, the record showcases Ginger’s song-writing maturity as he wears his heart and influences on his sleeve.

“Lionheart” stands tall on its own, but it’s also part of the movement of female country artists who are trying to reclaim traditional country music from the clutches of the establishment dominated “bro- country” sound. This album is a step in the right direction.

KLOF is a new mix series and our first offering features The One Ensemble, Martin Green, Twelve Hides, Robert Wyatt, Josephine Foster, Erlend Apneseth Trio, Arborea, Cath and Phil Tyler, Tim Eriksen and more.

Watch the new video from Xylouris White for Daphne (also our Song of the Day). It features both Jim White and George Xylouris’s mothers dancing in their separate homelands. May will see Xylouris White returning to Europe for a tour which includes a residency at London’s Café Oto.

Scottish folk singer songwriter Kris Drever announces Spring UK Tour including a headline show at London’s Union Chapel. Support for the tour will come from Hannah Read, whose latest album is currently a Featured Album of the Month on FRUK.

Lucia Comnes opens Held In The Arms with a hearty welcome, closes it with a warm embrace and all the way through delivers assured, beautifully crafted, American folk. Although there are songs here that have emerged from shadow, it’s still a journey into the light – and that light is a warm, welcoming glow.

Probably not something you’d fish out to put you in the party mood, but as a soundtrack to a good wallow in self-hatred, post-millennial despair and emotional squalor, this is down in the gutter with the best.

Widdershins is a potent work in response to a moment in time, when, whether it’s clockwise or anti, there seems to be, as Dylan put it, no direction home that is a road rather than a minefield.

Listen to Lost in Transmission No 38 featuring: Faeland, Alela Diane, David Kitt, Hannah Read, Darlingside, Sam Moss, Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66, The Oh Hellos, Belle And Sebastian, Justin Adams, Sudan Archives, Mélissa Laveaux, Sam Amidon, House And Land and Pumajaw.

Listen to Beautiful Mistake, the new single from 23-year-old Dennis Kalla who was born and raised in Kiruna, the northernmost city of Sweden. While he has made a name for himself in the Swedish indie community this looks set to grow beyond his home country.

Between Wind & Water is a joyous smorgasbord of Nordic Celtic traditional music that fairly warms the cockles and lifts the spirits. The essence of world-class fiddle music has not only been captured, but distilled into 12 potent shots.