Mike Davies

While Hot Club of Cowtown’s ‘Wild Kingdom’ may be arriving a  little late to put a swing soundtrack into the summer, there’s warmth and joy here whatever the season.

Possessed of the beauty and wildness of its settings, ‘The Edge of the World’ is yet another compelling album from The Orphan Brigade, to borrow from the location in which it was born, a veritable Giant’s Causeway of music, lyrics and atmosphere.

Rivers That Flow in Circles, the latest album from Birmingham’s Boat to Row, is a sublime album of intricately layered instruments and arrangements, consummately crafted and played.

It’s been said that being happy is the death blow to artistic creation, especially as a songwriter, but Dori Freeman is ample testament that a swelling heart can produce songs every bit as good as a broken one.

The latest from the Canadian singer-songwriter Del Barber follows his relocation from Winnipeg back to his rural Manitoba to become a farmer, a move that actually recharged his songwriting and gave him a clearer vision of what he was about.

Amy Speace, one of the great contemporary Americana singer-songwriters, returns with yet another masterpiece, songs about the clash between dreams and reality, of trials and triumphs and trying to make sense of life with its swings and roundabouts. Her best yet.

On ‘Is It The Kiss’, Ana Egge says that the songs emerged from the sense of unease and a deeper need for connection in the world and that people are listening more than they ever have before. This album would be a very good place for you to start.

Rachel Harrington returns with her first new album in eight years. Hush The Wild Horses fills in the gaps of those intervening years which include finding new love as well as dealing with loss and ghosts of the past.

Johnstown, the 1999 Appalachian-gothic, folk-noir masterpiece from Oh Susanna gets a well-deserved anniversary remastering with the addition of bonus tracks. On UK Tour in September.

We review Charlie Parr’s latest eponymous offering. This is actually Parr’s 17th album in as many years and those who’ve followed his journey will most definitely want this in their collection. Also, find out why he has an extra string on his resonator.

As a live album, Horses and Stars is so intimate and sparse you can almost hear the sweat drip and the blood pulsing as Sam baker draws you into his stories, it may not introduce him to new audiences but the converted will have much to celebrate.

So It Turns is a musically complex and nuanced work with emotions to match, this may not have the immediacy of its predecessor, but its contemplative air marks Sermanni’s passage from a musician to an artist.