Mike Davies

Over the past four albums, the California sextet Dustbowl Revival have served up a steady supply of Dixieland jazz, swing and Depression-era folk songs, but, for their fifth, they’ve charted a new direction, drawing on roots-rock, soul and even funk.

The Unraveling is Drive-By Truckers first album in just over three years. It has a lot of political ground to catch up on, embracing as it does all of Trump’s presidency to date and the unravelling of the nation in its wake.

After a six-year hiatus, Kirsty Almeida returns with Moonbird, a gorgeous album with first-class song writing, immersed in a warm suffusion of light and positivity. Breathe deep.

Modern Hinterland return with The Longest Part of the Night, delving into the heart of divided modern Britain, fraught with anxiety and uncertainty and look at how this impacts on people’s relationships.

Blackbird and Crow’s “Ailm” is a towering work of transcendental emotional power that trembles with both strength and vulnerability, it’s unlikely you’ll hear anything like it this year. 

Described as lost dispatches from a forgotten America, The Family Songbook brilliantly captures the sibling kinship, vocally and emotionally, conjuring long-gone days when families would gather around the kitchen table to sing their favourite songs. Wonderful.

Whether it proves to be a one-off project or they hopefully remain in the collective saddle to ride together again, for now, this understated affair works a quiet magic.

A witty, insightful and musically infectious album with songs that more than stand comparison with his early greats, at 76 Allen proves you’re never too old to lead from the front.

An impressive opus in its soundscape scope, one that requires full immersion as it unfolds, you really should show ‘Love’ some considerable affection.

El Dorado finds Marcus King shifting from his high octane blues-rock to a more country soul style, marrying rowdy electric guitar with keening pedal steel…Roll it and turn it on up.

Della Mae say that ‘Headlight’ is their contribution to keep up the tradition of trail-blazing women and “leave the world a better place than when we found it”.  It’ll certainly brighten yours.

Infused with the soul of the great Irish writers and such visionary boho barroom bards as Waits, Morrison, Burroughs or Bukowski, Keenan’s album is surely unlike any other album you’ll hear this year, the breathtaking arrival of a luminous talent.