Mike Davies

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.

A far cry from the often politically charged tub-thumping anthems of his day job with Merry Hell, Neil McCartney’s “Memoirs From A Crooked Road” gently grows on you the more you hear it, laying down a carbon footprint that’s well worth walking in.

The stripped-back ‘Live from the Glass Isle’ not only illuminates what a gifted songwriter Chris Cleverley is but is also a glowing testament to his growing and emotionally nuanced power as a singer and the luminous nature of his guitar playing.

Kingdom Come, Garrett Heath’s second album, is cast in the mould of 60s Greenwich village troubadours, of simple but infectious folksy melodies…a quiet, simple joy.

Green Diesel return with their fourth album ‘After Comes The Dark’, a bountiful offering of classic folk-rock that follows in the footsteps of the best from Fairport Convention to Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. Get your fill.

His first new material in six years, Downhill From Everywhere finds Jackson Browne on vintage form, marrying hummable melodies to both perceptive social commentary lyrics and love songs. As far as his albums go, this is a glorious high.

A celebration of life in both its highs and lows, memories of things lost and thankfulness for what is still held, these Two Days In Terlingua with Bard Edrington V will make your listening week.

Triage is played to perfection by Crowell and his assembled contributors, as he asks us to consider the priorities in a world that desperately needs healing.

Individually, The Flatlanders are a force to be reckoned with, each member has made their distinctive mark on the alt-country and Americana scene over the decades; as this welcome reunion shows, together they are indeed the musical living definition of a triple whammy.

With Blue World, Anna Tivel has crafted far more than simply some reimagined versions of her songs, this is a world with its own beauty and captivating intimacy.

Listening to the sharply directed words and empathetic sentiments on this unassumingly lovely album, there is little doubt that Murray McLauchlan is already wide awake, and his hourglass keeps perfect timing.