Albums

Comprising 17 songs in 45 minutes, Reason to Live is a thesis in what it means to be Lou Barlow at the age of 54. As Barlow finally gets comfortable in his skin, it’s his call to look around and find the inspiration to keep going.

Adrian Crowley has a voice that insists you listen and hang on to every word of The Watchful Eye of the Stars. It’s an album that stays with you long after the end, a testament to the vision of its author.

Dublin-duo Elgin’s “Weightless / Still” is an accomplished and serious body of songs; an immersive and rewarding album that carries a deep and intelligent thoughtfulness throughout. More, please.

Released on the award-winning Finnish independent record label Bafe’s Factory, PERTTULA follows his own path on Pajavasara where accordion meets primal rhythmic blacksmith percussion. There is much to enjoy here; prepare for a few surprises.

Maim, the latest offering from Gaelictronica duo WHYTE is an album for late-night reflection. It’s one of the most affecting pieces of music you will hear this year. But mind also the message. And the warning.

On ‘Swallow Me’, the latest EP from Scottish songstress Rachel Sermanni, the songs are a meditative collection influenced by her passage into motherhood…she sings to the rhythm of life being lived, with songs excavated from the depths of human emotion

With a focus on the vivacity and legacy of the Shetland tradition, Atlaness is a handsome, and thoroughly delightful listen on which Gray proves to be a talented fiddler, composer, and arranger in her own right.

Brinkworth’s sophomore record touches on different themes that come with staying put – the songs fit around their creator like a second skin, and he delivers them with a natural ease that comes only from artists that have honed their craft through experience.

“The Lost Mystique of Being in the Know” is a surprise release from Rising Appalachia that finds them at their most improvisational – one of the most intoxicating musical experiences you’ll have this year.

Watch part one of a short film on the making of Ulster trio TRÚ’s debut album ‘No Fixed Abode’. It also features Tommy Sands performing ‘County Down’ which TRÚ cover in their own unique and magical way.

Staran is both an album and the name adopted by a new collective formed by five of the most exciting young talents on the Glasgow folk scene. It’s a gem and an album truly more than the sum of its parts.

Mind Maintenance is less about its individual tracks as it is about being a continual, looping listening experience. There is something wholly magnetising about this rare music and its insistently repetitive nature that is hard to switch from. Enchanting, exciting, beautifully performed music.