Albums

Fans of the West African style of guitar playing cannot fail to be delighted by the selection from the archive of Shem Tupe, one of the giants of the genre known as Omutibo who, sadly, passed away recently.

Sunny War seems to have lived more in her short life than most people live in a lifetime, those experiences colour her new album, Simple Syrup. She is, quite frankly, a woman of exceptional depth. A remarkable album.

Bill Mackay and Nathan Bowles ‘Keys’ was an album we were excited about and it delivers at every turn. An engaging album with a glorious set of instrumentals and sang numbers. Plus new video ‘Dowsing’.

Celebrating the French and Weimar cabaret era, the former Wailin’ Jennys member Annabelle Chvostek digs into her East European heritage alongside her Canadian background and marital Uruguayan influences for this gloriously ebullient sixth album ‘Strong of Pearls’.

Michael Feuerstack’s “Harmonize the Moon” is an album that will stay with you for a while…If you’re going through anything emotionally at all, you will cry at some point. The lyrics are so wrenchingly on point.

Coming on the back of a personally traumatic year, ‘The Fray’ has a grip of iron. John Smith says these are the most honest songs he’s ever written…hard to disagree. Featuring an assemblage of stellar musicians it’s a shoo-in for the best of the year lists.

We owe thanks to a data salvaging company for 3hattrio’s ‘Lost Sessions’. Mike Davies advises “Not one to have you sing along perhaps, but, pour a tumbler of mescal, crush in a few psychotropic salvia leaves and let your inner ghost dog off the leash.”

At the start of her debut album ‘Hands’, Lotta St Joan promised truth, and she delivered, holding nothing back. It’s a melancholic trip through the grieving process of love lost.

Solitary Company, the third album from Joshua Tree-based duo Son of the Velvet Rat, is redolent of the stark beauty of their Mojave home. Their finest yet; an album of the year.

On Ballaké Sissoko’s new album, Djourou, the Malian kora player chose diverse artists, removed from his own musical traditions – and transforms each collaboration into a moving partnership, highlighting the deep ties that bind us – a moving and excellent album.

Welsh collective ‘Hanks Company Band’ deliver some laid back cosmic blues on their new album ‘Big on Easy’, a very fine addition to your collection of homegrown country.

From the opening track to the last, this is an intoxicating album. Edo Funk Explosion Vol. 1 is an essential compilation, illuminating the work of these three groundbreaking artists and their incendiary sound, the likes of which had never been heard before.