The long wait for Shadowlands, the fourth album from Romantica, has paid dividends – 14 songs bear testament to their understated and introspective brand of Americana.
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Winners included Kris Drever, Ross Ainslie & Ali Hutton, The Furrow Collective, Daoiri Farrell, Rachel Newton, Josie Duncan & Pablo Lafuente and more.
Having formerly fronted Danish trio Boho Dancer, Ida Wenøe now makes her solo debut with Time of Ghosts, an album that leans more towards their ethereal acid folk, blending Nordic and English folk influences.
Lost in Transmission No. 26 is filled with some familiar names: Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan alongside the likes of The Beta Band, White Fence, Cate Le Bon, The Wave Pictures, Courtney Barnett, Mama Rosin and Yorkston/Thorne/Khan.
Based on the west coast of Scotland, The Quiggs (husband and wife Pernille and Stephen) return with Seeds I Didn’t Sow – songs and memorable melodies worth revisiting again and again. Unquestionably one of the best folk albums of the year.
For those that like their stomp swamp with a Southern Gothic twist – think of David Eugene Edwards raised in the bayou, check out New Orleans-based Old Nobodaddy who has released his new single ‘Bury the Hatchet’
Usher’s Island self-titled debut doesn’t disappoint, a first-rate album of Irish traditional music and one that is more than fit to take its place in the ranks of classic group albums in the field.
Ritual Land, Uncommon Ground is a quietly huge endeavour, a labour of love, full of valuable knowledge, surprising stylistic breadth and exquisite songwriting.
Listen in full to Blanco White’s new EP Colder Heavens as he weaves together Anglo-American folk with an Andean and Flamenco sound. He also takes us through his EP Track by Track.
Anna Coogan talks to FRUK about her new album ‘The Lonely Cry of Space and Time.’ “I’d like it to make people think- about the rising oceans, about children washing up on beaches, and how that relates to us as individuals, living our normal lives.”
Sillion is a strange, affecting and beautifully realised album, one with many hidden (and manifest) depths. Johnny Flynn has made a captivating, exhilarating and sometimes unsettling album. Go and listen.
