Mike Davies

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.

The Unconquerable past is an album that grows on you the more you listen,  the message is clear,  while the past may seem to be unconquerable, that’s no reason to give up the fight.

Exposed and honest, Weber has regrets but no apologies for who he is, for what drives him, for the heartache in his wake, in the search of making the music in his head. It’s a high price, but this album repays every wounded moment in full.

There are, undoubtedly, many out there who, like Joseph back in 1973, remain ignorant of Phil Ochs and for whom, as the notes say, this will afford a nudge forward. That it also happens to be one of Joseph’s finest albums is an added bonus.

Landry’s fifth solo album is described as “reflections and thoughts on the collective hallucination that is America”…it’s a hugely accomplished and at times troubling album that has already earned its place in “Best of” year-end lists.

Mike Davies shares his Top Ten albums of 2019 including Emily Mae Winters, Luke Jackson, Caroline Spence, Allison Moorer, Danny Schmidt, Daria Kulesh, Rachel Harrington and more.