Albums

Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi’s new album is unlike anything else you will experience this year. They’re Calling Me Home is a metaphor for our times. We all need to find our way home. Let this album serve as your guide.

Curated by Peter Knight and spanning 2009 – 2017, From Poets to Wives is an alluring compilation. Peter Knight’s Gigspanner is a national treasure and this is the best of the very best.

Darkly romantic, hauntingly melodic and flecked with effective experimental embellishments, Amigo the Devil’s ‘Born Against’ stakes an early birthright for the year’s best-of lists, reinforcing the adage that the devil truly does have all the best songs.

Liz Simmons’s new solo album is soft and soothing, though not without a hint of anxiety. Like the wordsmiths of its title, it captures the rhythms, rhymes and cadences of life in its universal being.

Joined by eight female vocalists, Olav Larsen’s “Stream of Consciousness” is an album rich in low-key ambience, its honest sound pervades deep to the soul. It’s a heartbreakingly raw, considered and thoroughly enticing album.

This collage of sounds from traditional Balkan music and song and modern electronica will delight lovers of dance music and of more experimental sounds in equal measure. A long-awaited debut album from Balkan Taksim that fans and new listeners will welcome.

John Spillane’s “100 Snow White Horses” is a rich, molten cauldron of emotional blissed-out balladry blessed with poetic intimacy and a collection of story-songs that begs immediate listening. A masterclass of eloquent romanticism delivered by a poet of song.

In Shapes Of The Fall Piers Faccini has created a masterpiece – cerebral, thought-provoking, but above all, musically, an intensely enjoyable listening experience.

In honour of Bob Dylan’s 80th Birthday, Danny Neill presents the first in a series of deep dives into the music of Bob Dylan accompanied by an extensive playlist featuring over 5 hours of music. We kick off with Vol 1 – Essential Bob.

Journey Through The Roke is a rather fetching gorgeous record. Flitting from Americana, jazz, and blues, with nods to funk, country, and tradition, the album expertly demonstrates Honey and the Bear’s skill and confidence. It is a road I’ll happily wander along again.

Binga, the latest offering from guitarist and singer Samba Touré is a compelling, intriguing and wonderfully refreshing album. While it reflects on some of the harsh realities of life it’s also driven by a pride for a nation’s history.

Land of Heroes is Ray Cooper’s fourth solo album. An engaging listen from the outset that beckons you back for repeated listens. He really has excelled here.