Mike Davies

Cape Snow is a cross-continental collaboration between Los Angeles-based singer Bree Scanlon and members of the long- running New England based band Tiger Saw. One to be swept away in, like giddy hearts.

Departures is the debut release from London-based quintet Owl & Mouse, fronted by Brisbane singer-songwriter and ukulele player Hannah Botting.

Oddity, the debut album release from West Midlands based band Bethan and the Morgans shows great promise and the potential to strike on something demanding wider scale attention sooner rather than later.

‘Tied To The Moon’ is a hugely impressive album from Rachel Sermanni who’s proving to be a force to be reckoned with in the eclectic field of contemporary folk.

Joshua Fletcher has been reassessing his songwriting, looking inward rather than casting stones at others, coming to fruition in this sophomore offering, produced by Alex Dezen of the Damnwells.

Featuring fellow Scots Steve Crawford and Pete Coutts, alongside German multi-instrumenatlist Sascha ‘Salossi’ Loss and Crawford’s long-term songwriting partner Davy Cattanach, Ballad of Crows has strong echoes of late 70s/early 80s Laurel Canyon and its attendant soft folk rock vibe. Certainly one to check.

On Declaration, Australian folk duo Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton demonstrate how less can be more, this is a both a very welcome return and an enticing introduction to the duo’s embarking upon new paths down a familiar route.

Further West is the third album from husband and wife duo Hungrytown. Bringing together English and American folk traditions it may not be the most optimistic of albums, but it most certainly is one that gets into your pores.

Megan Henwood’s debut announced her as a promising new voice on the contemporary English folk scene; Head Heart Hand confirms her as one of its finest exponents.

The latest travellers down the Appalachian path are The Honeycutters who hail from Asheville in North Carolina. Fronted by Amanda Platt, Me Oh My, their third album, is likely to be the one that brings them mainstream attention. There’s not a track here that doesn’t stand hearing again and again.

The End of the Golden Age is the third album from Scotland’s The Wynntown Marshals. Whilst better known north of the border this latest release looks set to rectify that.

My Darling Clementine team up with Solihull-born crime and mystery novelist Mark Billingham for ‘The Other Half’ – a new original story by Billingham, inspired by and woven around songs from the duo. It’s set in a rundown Memphis bar, not far from Sun Studios, where Marcia, a former Las Vegas showgirl, alone and estranged from her daughter, works double shifts to keep her head above water.