Mike Davies

Della Mae deliver a compelling set with ‘Family Reunion’. Tracing themes of both loss and hope, it’s up there with their very best. This is one get together you will really want to celebrate.

If her debut offered an initial promise that Kashena Sampson was a timeless voice for the years, ‘Time Machine’ is a 24-carat confirmation that she belongs in the ranks of the greats.  Her gold will not tarnish.

Calling to mind the summer of love, The Heartless Bastards’ ‘A Beautiful Life’, serves as a reminder that it’s a beautiful life and it’s one that deserves to be lived and celebrated.

Individually, the four albums that form Blek’s Catharsis Project are each standout works, together forming a heart-swelling conceptual quartet. The finale, On Ether & Air, which is fuelled by and founded on an intermingling of loss and hope, proves a triumphant climax.

The Burner Band’s ‘Signs and Wonders’ is a bristlingly confident, musically infectious and assured debut. While they only once break the three-minute mark, they deliver by simply going in, doing the job, and getting out again with a less is more attitude.

The line-up on David Ferguson’s ‘Nashville No More’ is a testament to the respect this celebrated Nashville musician commands. This debut album is a testament to the fact he most certainly deserves it.

Hailing from Yukon, The Lucky Ones deliver their own brand of bluegrass on a promising self-titled debut throughout which there’s a strong sense of family and community.

Arriving ten years after The Faux Paws first got together, this debut may have been long in the gestation, but the experience and musical wisdom accumulated in that time has clearly paid off for a quietly unassuming but highly infectious album.

John Jenkins’ ‘If You Can’t Forgive, You Can’t Love’ is a summery hook-laden indie-pop free-flying balloon ride that makes you want to push the replay button and listen to the whole album all over again.

When James McMurtry released his debut back in 1989, he was hailed as a blazing new talent with the ability to capture a wealth of meaning and emotion in just a few words. Thirty-two years later, he’s burning brighter and fiercer than ever.

While Ben Bostick’s “Grown Up Love” is rooted in a very personal relationship and set of events, there’s a universality of experience to touch the heart and soul of anyone who’s found themselves faced with similar situations, heartache and the need to find light amid the darkness.

Mellow down with Ric Robertson’s smokey vocals and let his soulful, country-tinted melodies carry you along. Carolina Child makes for a sweet listen.