Thomas Blake

Paths To The Foss is a superb piece of work, warm, uncluttered and alive, one that rests in the cradle of Ian Humberstone’s singular voice. The perfect record to accompany you through a dark Scandinavian winter.

Big Machine is an album of unrestrained ambition and masterful execution from a performer at the very top of her game. It has all the hallmarks of a vastly important release, and should cement Eliza Carthy’s place as one of our most valuable musicians.

Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith return with their second album, Night Hours. Backed by the members of folk trio Teyr, it is an album that is exhilaratingly diverse and full of impeccably crafted and beautifully realised songs.

These two well-travelled veterans of the folk music scene have still got a great deal to say and can still say it with style. That they have chosen to say it together, for this album at least, is something we should all be grateful for.

Lady Maisery’s live performance banishes thoughts of the cold and a sore throat for our reviewer Thomas as he declares: Lady Maisery have proved themselves one of the most invigorating and talented live acts around. They are a rare tonic in these troubled times.

With Wild Hog, The Furrow Collective have surpassed their excellent debut with a set of songs that is mature, intelligent and experimental. The quartet at the heart of this record, for all their differing styles, have hit upon something that has a rare sparkle to it. A deceptively simple, spell-bindingly beautiful record.

Jon Boden compiles The Ultimate Guide To English Folk, a lavish two-disc primer designed to appeal to experienced folkies and newbies alike. It is not the first such collection, but it is probably the most wide-ranging, lovingly compiled and inventively sequenced. One of the most important messages to take from this compilation is that while folk music in England is something of an extended family, it is by no means …


Cycle is without doubt, an album stuffed full of formidable singing and excellent musicianship. But more than this, it is an album that has something to say about today’s world and is aware of its place in history. Lady Maisery are unafraid to challenge preconceptions about folk music but are aware of its cultural significance and its historical imperative. This album proves that they are worthy custodians and spirited agitators.

Moray is a performer of consummate talent, a musician who plays a whole range of instruments on this album, and a singer of rare emotional depth. That he manages to do all this while forging a bright new path for folk music is admirable. That he has done so over six albums and still seems to be hitting his peak while never doing the same thing twice is remarkable.

Any chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Apple Of My Eye are happily lacking in any such weak links, and as a result, they have produced one of the most exciting folk albums of the year so far.

Buck Curran has been a leading light in the psych-folk scene for so long now that it might come as a surprise to learn that this is his first solo album. With Immortal Light he has successfully tapped into nature’s beauty and created a slice of alt-folk that is as engrossing as anything you’re likely to hear.

Shadows succeeds through the striking humanity of its songs, and by their originality. It’s an album that will hopefully see its creators heralded as one of the most vital – and indeed one of the most experimental – acts on the folk circuit and beyond.