Bob Fish

Lily Henley wasn’t interested in blazing a trail with her new album Oras Desaoradas. She was trying to interpret a tradition. This is music that deserves not just your attention but your commitment to ensuring this tradition continues and thrives.

Featuring Kathryn Calder from the New Pornographers and Mark Andrew Hamilton from Woodpigeon, lyrically and musically, Frontperson are at the top of their game and ‘Parade’ deserves to be heard again and again.

Penguin Cafe combines music and cultures, mixing them in ways that are almost unimaginable while being as gentle as a whisp of air. A Matter of Life 2021 only serves to confirm the wisdom of the choices Arthur Jeffes has made along the way.

Subtly, imperceptibly, Kevin Farge builds Halcyon Days into something of a quiet revolution. He wields the power of gentleness, using the gentle force of his music to seep inside your pores until resistance to these gifts is useless.

Patrick Watson never ceases to amaze, and his new album, Better in the Shade surprises again and again. The album engages by disengaging from the world we know, using parts we tend to rely on as stepping stones to a deeper understanding.

Dena Miller has one of those voices so incredibly high and pure that, at times, it’s almost shocking the things she sings about as Deer Scout on her debut album, Woodpecker.

The music of Calexico’s El Mirador creates an ever-changing multicultural kaleidoscope of the American southwest. Along the way, you discover that while the sounds may seem foreign, they are also intoxicating.

Ultimately, as The Ciderhouse Rebellion, Murray Grainger and Adam Summerhayes illustrate that despite the music being created in the instant, Genius Loci 2: The Valley of Iron preserves moments of timeless, haunted beauty.

M Ross Perkins creates the kind of masterpieces that could only come from one mind. E Pluribus M Ross is the most unified collection of lines and licks you’re likely to hear this year.

While Midlake have not deserted the sounds of yore, they have reinterpreted the repertoire on For the Sake of Bethel Woods, sounding more willing to experiment. There is a sense of liberation in the music. No one is holding them back any longer.

The first thing you notice about Jadea Kelly on Roses is her voice. It’s an amazing instrument, one that reflects longing, yet can also convey joy.

At the heart of Samana and All One Breath opposite worlds seem to coalesce forming contradictions that are part of the very fabric of life. They travel emotional pathways through a constantly changing landscape, documenting moments that may never come again.