Aaron Jackson

The purity and simplicity of both of these albums yield more and more depth with each repeated listen. This is reflective music in its truest sense. The more you listen, the more you find. Excellent.

Drawn from Deep Water is an assured next step for Scottish four-piece Gnoss – from the poised and deeply moving to the evocative and stirring this marks a clear progression of their sound. Their best yet.

Drawn from an oral history project Danny Pedler conducted in the South Holland region of Lincolnshire, it’s hard to think of anything quite packing Field and Dyke’s emotional punch this year. An excellent and highly recommended album from Danny and Greg Russell.

Alternately rabble-rousing, thoughtful, pointed and lyrical if this is to be the end of McDermott’s 2 Hours then both sets see them going out in style.

What’s significant about Martin Simpson’s ‘Prodigal Son’ is that although outstanding tracks abound, this really is the one where it all came together. If you haven’t heard it, you should. If you have, you should revisit it.

The quality of the musicianship and the sensitive and sympathetic reading of the songs on The Unfinished Violin means that it should rightfully be considered one of the best folk albums of 2018. It’s context and story also suggests it has a good chance of being considered one of the most important too.

Crossings represents the first offering from violinist Faith Brackenbury and pianist John Neilson. It is a superb album that shows off the synergy of their different but complementary musical voices. Music for the head and heart that comes highly recommended.

Trail West’s ‘From the Sea to the City’ takes you from the dance to sombre seriousness and the surge of deep and strong emotion with equal facility and success. Highly recommended.

Catching Scott Matthews at Newcastle’s The Clunny our writer is drawn into a reflection on his songs of loneliness and disconnection in an age where both are rife. A reminder of the part live music plays – to get the experience and emotion release you don’t get from a screen.

On An Introduction to The Watersons and Waterson:Carthy, Topic records cover a 40 year period within 15 songs – a superb and timely retrospective of a vital shaping force in contemporary British folk. A collective musical vision of exhilarating purity, beauty, and power.

What is so impressive about this release is the level of immersive intimacy that the quintet achieves in a live setting. Only the audience appreciation at the end of each track reminds you that they aren’t playing just for you. This is music deeply rooted in its time and in its space yet played without borders – and it’s all the better for it.

Its charm lies in its easy, intimate delivery; its low-fi approach; and an engaging sense of humanity that comes from someone just playing what matters to them simply because it matters to them.