Albums

In keeping with the theme of subconscious exploration, Karima Walker’s ‘Waking the Dreaming Body’ provides a beautifully hypnotic experience. Content in the duality of her music and not afraid to experiment, with this album, Walker has created her best work to date.

From its attention-grabbing opener, Dag Tenere’s “Iswat” is an entrancing EP. Despite the hypnotic raw guitars and steady rhythms coming to the fore, it also feels deeply layered and sophisticated. Short but excellent.

Marisa Anderson & William Tyler deliver a diverse and shifting set of songs, using repetition, space, peace and alarm. Lost Futures is a finely composed and beautifully performed album from these two highly creative players.

Tré Burt’s You, Yeah, You is characterised by an honest and compassionate set of tales, rich with stories of humanity, its beauty and faults, of Burt’s American homeland; a philosopher in jeans and a persuasive new presence on the American folk scene.

When James McMurtry released his debut back in 1989, he was hailed as a blazing new talent with the ability to capture a wealth of meaning and emotion in just a few words. Thirty-two years later, he’s burning brighter and fiercer than ever.

Life and the Land is a magnificent debut. Ben Walker and Kirsty Merryn have set the bar high by delivering a masterclass in how to successfully place old jewels in new settings.

Sincerely honest, lacking in pretension or hyperbole, qualities it seems that are sadly lacking in many quarters today, Steve Jinski’s Hope Street is an album that does exactly what it says on the tin. It is as good a salve and riposte to the seemingly all-pervasive negativity currently around as you could wish for.

Cots, the new project from Steph Yates, represents a more personal style for the Montreal-based artist and ‘Disturbing Body’, is her most intimate and emotionally complex work to date, that invites the listener to impart their own experiences onto its dream-like vocals and velvety instrumentals.

Recording as Chorusing, Matthew O’Connell has created a piece of music that manages to create new language and meaning by meticulously crafting the sounds and lyrics that make Half Mirror something totally unique.

Fans of the original will appreciate the upgrade in sound, extensive sleeve notes and extra tracks on Steve Ashley’s Family Album Revisited. For those looking for a slice of vintage folk-rock from one of Britain’s finest songwriters, you’re sure to be welcomed into the family.

Johnny Whalley shares some of his highlights from this year’s Wickham Festival which went the extra mile in delivering an incredible lineup to an audience that clapped, cheered, sang and danced, showing that live music could, once again, be enjoyed in a muddy field.

While Ben Bostick’s “Grown Up Love” is rooted in a very personal relationship and set of events, there’s a universality of experience to touch the heart and soul of anyone who’s found themselves faced with similar situations, heartache and the need to find light amid the darkness.