Mike Davies

Shoulder to Shoulder is the latest offering from Chris While and Julie Matthews, a potent reminder that they remain one of the finest duos on the acoustic scene, there is strength in this union.

M. Lockwood Porter fits comfortably into the tradition of American folk troubadour protest singers while also mining the more musically aggressive territory of punk-country and roots-rock. His latest offers strong examples of both

Skeleton Tree tackles death, loss, grief and religion couched in a musical meld of noir and Biblical atmospherics. Between times, darkness hangs heavy, even when songs have an edge of hope and celebration.

So Long City is a stripped down solo debut from Pat Kearns – while there are musically uptempo tracks it’s the softer, slower introspective balladry that provides the album’s heart and backbone. Repeat plays will reveal its immense charms.

Paul Goodwin’s latest offering is a quietly unassuming album, but it creeps up on you and hits you in the solar plexus of your mid-life crisis, leaving you winded, but grateful to be still breathing.

As the title suggests, the component parts form together to create a superbly wrought and finely crafted album, beautifully played by all involved, that is certain to loom large in the end of year folk awards.

Common wisdom holds that The Handsome Family’s finest album is ‘Through The Trees’. It may be time to revise that after a listen to ‘Unseen’, an album that embraces forgotten moments, lost dreams and spiritual light.

David Eugene Edwards gazes skywards in his latest offering. Ethereal and multi-layered ‘Star Treatment’ is a blood rush of  baptismal fury that touches on primal, apocalyptic feelings and leaves you both drained and exhilarated.

A confident and impressive sophomore album that not only fully justifies past predictions regarding Hannah Sanders trajectory in the current folk field but also marks the arrival of a significant new duo force with Ben Savage.

With Grammy award-winner Larry Campbell on production, The Stray Birds return with a fuller sounding album and their first fully collaborative songwriting effort. Flaming brilliant!

The Honeycutters return with a follow-up to last year’s breakout ‘Me Oh My’. ‘On the Ropes’ is unquestionably one of the finest Americana albums of 2016; you really do want to be in their corner.

Three years on from their Daisy Roots debut, the Midlands-based five-piece The Jigantics are back with Seconds Out, an equally impressive sophomore outing.