Thomas Blake

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy pays tribute to Merle Haggard on ‘Best Troubador’, a timely reminder of the talents one of the most gifted of all the great American songwriters, delivered with grace and skill by a modern master.

We talk to Lisa Knapp about her latest album Till April Is Dead – A Garland Of May and talk in-depth about the rituals celebrated in May and why it has always held such power over the imaginations of singers and writers.

There is no-one quite like Avital Raz in the world of music right now, and she should be applauded for the intelligence and singularity of her artistic vision. The Fallen Angel’s Unravelling Descent is a genuinely original musical statement, full of wise, exotic and gleefully mordant songs that manage to be simultaneously challenging and melodic.

Inver, the debut album by three-piece ambient folk band HAV, has been slowly brewing for three years. Accordingly, the music they make together proves to be a slow-burning pleasure. A profoundly moving and expressive album that is the perfect antidote to quick fixes and empty gestures.

Unlike Lisa Knapp’s previous releases, Till April Is Dead: A Garland Of May is an entirely different beast, not only because of the unity of its concept but because it seeks to understand old songs and traditions in modern and often highly original ways. It is a real step forward from a genuinely groundbreaking artist.

Rain Dries Your Eyes is a sizeable and well-chosen anthology from Jason McNiff. A timely reminder of the talents of one of our most underappreciated musicians and singers – there is a clarity of purpose here that is rarely found, let alone maintained throughout a decade or so of music making.

Find The Ways is a genuinely original album. It is rare for an album to successfully bridge the gap between the contemporary and the antiquated, but Allred and Broderick do it so well that you don’t even notice the joins.

We talk to George Nigel Hoyle (Cunning Folk) about his fascination with the ritual English landscape and his vast musical influences from Anne Briggs to Brian Eno. He also shares his fascination with ritual…”they signpost where we are & where we have come from.”

Dan Walsh’s latest offering, Verging On The Perpendicular, is the perfect balance of authenticity and flair. Without ever ignoring the past, it points the way to an exciting future for banjo music.

Ritual Land, Uncommon Ground is a quietly huge endeavour, a labour of love, full of valuable knowledge, surprising stylistic breadth and exquisite songwriting.

Artistic statements like The Gathering…are symptoms of change, and they are also its catalysts. Toby Hay’s album is a stunning turning point in what we have come to call folk music. A beautiful, frank and mysterious statement.

Featuring some of the best recording artists on the English folk music circuit, From Here: English Folk Field Recordings is a celebration of the democratic nature of folk music, but more than that, it is proof that this kind of recording still matters on the most visceral of levels.