Mike Davies

While Look Long reflects on the many changes in the world, Indigo Girls are still the bar-band they claim to be at heart, you really should grab a beer and celebrate their return to the saloon.

Joe Nolan’s already achieved considerable acclaim and following in Canada, Drifters suggests he’s about to step up to an international level.

Reassure Me There’s A Window marks the solo debut of Glenn Thomas of Rhode Island rock outfit Wild Sun. At a time when doors are shut, Thomas has thrown open a window to the world of the heart, and the view is wonderful.

At the end of the day, while Isbell’s “Reunions” may have been a troubled journey, as the title implies, these are about coming together rather than moving apart. Embrace it in both arms.

Will Stewart’s name may not yet be embedded in the wider collective consciousness of Americana, but this is a  welcome reminder of a smouldering talent charting an inexorable path to the recognition and acclaim he deserves.

A masterful, innovative, highly accomplished and persuasively entertaining work that reinforces their credentials as one of the truly pioneering acts in contemporary folk music, this is one gap you really do need to set your mind to.

Lamentations, the new album from American Aquarium, is further testament to Barham’s storytelling skills as well as the painful honesty of the personal numbers; it may well be his best yet.

Featuring a number of guest musicians, on Cardinal in the Snow, love and loss, life and death, determination and defiance, all ripple through the songs of My Girl The River, come and immerse yourself in their waters.

A new benchmark in Lucinda Williams’ 40 years career, when it comes down to saving arseholes or good souls, the album is very clear on how the scales should be balanced.

Daphne’s Flight return with a terrific example of sisters doing it for themselves in their own ways and on their own terms, an arrival well worth breaking out the greeting banners for.

A simple yet haunting album of emotional and musical depth that underscores both Kirsty Merryn’s consummate musical craftsmanship and her articulacy of the heart.

While it took B.Knox a  while to stop just writing songs for himself and to have the confidence that others might want to listen to what he had to say, Heartbreak & Landscape is ample evidence of why they will.