Mike Davies

The Hanging Stars’ last three albums saw them teetering on greatness. Wearing their cosmic country and late 60s West Coast folk-rock influences on their sleeve, Hollow Heart should rightly push them over the edge; it’s their best yet.

On River Fools & Moutain Saints, Ian Noe takes inspiration from autobiography, the Appalachian community and observations of the characters that inhabit it, but the emotions he touches on and the stories he tells have a universal resonance.

While Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves’ debut rightfully saw them critically acclaimed as a shining new force in string band music; Hurricane Clarice shows their light to be even brighter.

Ink of the Rosy Morning showcases the dexterity of Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage’s guitar playing and the unaffected beauty of their voices, both individually and in harmony. This is their most immediate, beguiling and, dare I say it, finest work yet.

On ‘Nothing Pressing’, Jerry Leger charts a musical and personal journey that he says he hopes listeners will feel they can share. These are songs that give you the strength to come through on the other side.

The Lied To’s Doug Kwarter and Susan Levine, return with “The Worst Kind of New”. Both lost parents during the album’s making which finds them examining loss, grief, memory, and the desire for love and self-acceptance.

Ivy Ryann says she wants her music to offer a sanctuary with no judgement, a safe space for those beset with their own mental health issues, as a solidarity and community through song. With this album, she opens the door; step inside.

Now approaching their 25th anniversary, Yonder Mountain String Band have carved themselves a hugely impressive reputation and loyal following on the bluegrass scene and this album looks set to take that further.

Invested with reflections and memories, Judy Collins’ Spellbound is quite literally an album of a lifetime that, spurred by a pandemic that put life on hold, has equally taken almost a lifetime to find its purpose in coming into existence. Indisputably a late career high.

Anaïs Mitchell’s self-titled new album draws on the past and looks to the future – quietly affecting and beguiling, delivered with quiet, introspective emotion and perfectly attuned musical arrangements.

The Pine Hearts expand their musical horizons and refine their newgrass sound on Lost Love Songs on which thoughtful lyrics touch on emotions to which we can all relate…well worth discovering and giving a  home.

A stunning return by Amy Boone, who exudes assurance and bruised sensuality alongside evocative lyrics from Willy Vlautin and a consummately crafted soundscape. The Sea Drift is an intoxicating piece of work from The Delines.