Albums

Margo Cilker’s taken her time readying this grander entrance onto the Americana stage. Pohorylle is one of the year’s finest debuts, that stage is hers for the taking.

The Magic Lantern has created a work that will end up on many end-of-the-year lists. The songs on A Reckoning Bell stand out in their capacity to both communicate and transform expectations. Few albums today do both so well.

Electric Dreams is the latest offering from Pacific Northwest perdition blues band This Lonesome Paradise. It’s a dark, brooding gothic Western noir affair, that serves a delicious cherry atop a peyote sundae.

Lately is by far the most immediate and accessible album Lilly Hiatt’s made, packed with Top 40-friendly hooks and choruses, it’s infectiously irresistible.

David Keenan’s ‘What Then?”, builds on his phenomenal debut in the same way that Finnegan’s Wake was a quantum leap for Joyce, a defining work of visceral genius from a soul aflame with both the poetry of his ancestors and the fire of the future.

The Rhythms of Migration is a migratory musical masterpiece and an outstanding album from our Artists of the Month: Freedom to Roam, featuring Eliza Marshall, Catrin Finch, Jackie Shave, Kuljit Bhamra, Donal Rogers, Robert Irvine, Lydia Lowndes-Northcott & Joby Burgess.

Henry Parker’s Lammas Fair is an album full of old wisdom and new beginnings, deeply rooted in the wild landscape of northern England, but ultimately outward-looking and welcoming.

With “More Notes From The Field”, Jacob & Drinkwater reach the high-water mark of contemporary folk music. It is an exceptional album that digs deep creatively and emotionally but is also beautiful and accessible.

“Valge Valgus”, a collaboration between Belgian accordionist Hartwin Dhoore and Estonian musicians Carlos Liiv and Sofia-Liis Kose, is a remarkably perceptive album. Intuitive musicianship effortlessly transports the listener on what is a deeply rewarding album.

The Story Song Scientists: Findlay Napier and Megan Henwood have struck gold with Quantum Lyrics. It’s a masterful stroke of lyrical genius from a very gifted duo. I can’t recommend it enough.

While the choice of material on “Songs Of Love & Death” may not offer any surprises, there’s no questioning the freshness and resonance of the interpretations or the sheer class that Reg Meuross, Harbottle & Jonas bring.

Marla and David Celia return with Indistinct Chatter, an album that covers themes around our throw-away society, capitalism and compassion…while they never labour the point they’re making, their whisper is far more effective than the scream.