Thomas Blake

Orla Wren’s individual pieces are each like a single exhalation drawn out and slowed so that every particle of air, every bit of woodland mist, every icy molecule of breath is discernible.

Dan Haywood’s ‘Dapple’ has a deep and symbiotic relationship with nature and place. The roots of which seem to have seeped up from the ancient ground on which he made these airy and beautifully understated recordings.

RM Hubbert’s latest release ‘Breaks & Bone’, the final instalment of a trilogy, demands to be listened to in its entirety and acts as a perfect denouement to a fascinating series of records.

The Wooden Shjips take a new direction on Back to the Land, the gut-churning psychedelia remains but this is the sound of a band with a fresh focus, set to win over a whole new set of fans.

Sunray’s latest release ‘Fullcircle’ is a welcome addition to the collection of anyone with a penchant for kosmische musik, droney psych or West Coast flower pop.

Doug Tielli has picked out Kersley’s idiosyncrasies and made them into a beautiful and wide-ranging collection of songs that for all their strangeness and stylistic audacity sound as if they were plucked from the rain-soaked ground.

Bill Callahan’s latest offering: ‘Dream River’ is another stunning chapter, an album where nothing shouts but everything works.

The Music and Migration series seeks to capture the fleeting magic of migration in song. That it has now reached its third instalment is a testament to the quality of material its subject inspires.

Julianna Barwick’s Nepenthe is more enigmatic and multi-faceted than anything she has released before…while there is still a degree of sadness here, there is also a great deal of beauty and hope.

The latest release from Sharron Kraus is ‘Pilgrim Chants and Pastoral Trails’, a fitting testament to a loving engagement with a corner of the countryside that remains as magical as ever.

At times sincere, at times slightly sinister, Lux Harmonium’s new recordings recall the golden age of British psych-folk without ever losing their modern focus and precision.

Ten Songs is hailed by James Yorkston as the best album of the year so far…David A. Jaycock has crafted an album that is eerie, eclectic and often beautiful. It deserves to bring him wider acclaim.