David Kidman

Counting Down the Hours, the debut album from Rakish, a New England-based duo consisting of Maura Shawn Scanlin and Conor Hearn, is an invigorating blend of beauty and emotion that’s produced some seriously enduring music.

There can be no doubt that with ‘Needle and Thread’, Dom Prag’s sophomore album, he has propelled himself straight from the “definitely one to watch” category straight to the top rank of distinctive, individual folk performers.

Drawn To The Light signals ALAW’s triumphant re-emergence from lockdown. And its strong, vital sense of togetherness is but one of the myriad of qualities that make it such an exceptional album.

With Yonder Green Grove, The Norfolk Broads have produced a collection of greater stature. The vocal accomplishment of all four singers, whether alone or together, is spellbinding.

Says The Never Beyond is an impressive achievement by any standards, for it delivers a startlingly innovative approach to the performance of the deep seasonal repertoire. A thrilling and utterly hypnotic ride through the wintersong repertoire.

Allysen Callery’s “Ghost Folk” casts a mesmerising spell, impossible to resist, and yet also conjures subtleties and substance that demand your closer investigation.

Tom McConville’s latest offering ‘Plenty For The Few’ is a generous crossover blend of influences – a scintillating journey through Tyneside, Irish, American, Scottish, folk, bluegrass, swing and more. A magnificent album.

As biog-documentaries go, All My Life’s Buried Here must be judged one of the finest and especially well realised. It is truly compelling viewing and something of a benchmark in its field.

A fulsome & creatively scored mini-album, much in the tradition of psych-folk-pop. Despite the surface gloss it exhibits a powerful identity.

Elkington’s Ever-Roving Eye is a compelling, characterful and mesmerising album. Listening to its intricate layerings and meticulous, deliquescent fingerpicking, one can well understand the desire he had for perfection.

The seriously riveting concert performances here represent jewel-like chamber-vocal “diversions” from the repertoire-highway – these are byways stacked with abundantly vital and yet quietly spectacular interpretations that are to be much treasured.

It’s a real pleasure to welcome Eliza into our living-rooms again, and her latest batch of thought-provoking and unusually contoured songs is presented in the context of a fruitful new musical collaboration – so come to the cabaret!