Albums

On Fruitful Fells, Jez Hellard reminds us “…that it’s the world rather than you that’s been going mad”. Mad the world may be, but it’s immeasurably improved by having music such as this brought into it, imaginative, thought-provoking and, above all, entertaining.

Thanks to the musicians and poets of the Khasi Hills and Gareth Bonello, we learn of the little-known history between Wales and this area of India. While ‘Sai-thaiñ ki Sur is diverse and broad, it is also a remarkably cohesive and excellent album.

Dylan LeBlanc’s “Pastimes” EP is an eclectic set of cover songs with personal associations and a homage to those who inspired his sound – from the Rolling Stones to Glen Campbell.

The Electric Muse Revisited is a collection that will stay with you and promises to be a seminal document of folk music in these very exciting times. It’s guaranteed to get you thinking, hunting out but – above all – revelling in brilliant music.

Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight’s “The Days That Shaped Me” 10th Anniversary re-issue is a beautifully evocative record…a celebration of family history, romances, memories, and the sheer joy of life. It’s been a poignant, and thoroughly heart-warming, pleasure to revisit.

Saint Sister’s “Where I Should End” amazes. The blending of the acoustic and electronic has seldom come together so seamlessly as it does here. I guarantee it will stick fast in your consciousness.

It’s rare to hear a band creating genuinely new music with a basis in traditional forms, but Erlend Apneseth Trio have managed it on more than one occasion. Lokk is their most vivid and satisfying reinvention yet.

Chloe Foy’s long-awaited debut album “Where Shall We Begin” is an introspective and nuanced work, touching on themes of life and loss, love and fear – a heartbreaking journey that ends in love and light.

An impressive step up from her debut, Rachel Baiman’s “Cycles” is bristling with confidence. Open and honest in its feelings, the album offers an insight into the dynamic of reconciling ambitions with the needs of a personal life.

The enticing combination of Ó hEadhra’s sensitive playing and NicChoinnich’s delightfully sweet vocals, rightly identified as one of the finest Gaelic singers on the scene today, is hard to resist. Càirdeas is a rather gorgeous album, a genuinely soothing and captivating listen.

Go By Feel is the much-anticipated debut by The Hello Darlins. With their mix of Canadian and American influences, they call their sound North Americana; you might just settle for spellbinding.

Justin Sullivan’s “Surrounded” is an album you need to spend time with…there’s a depth of emotion, despair and hope, darkness and light that captures both the isolation of lockdown but also the sense of a universal bond that it has awoken.