Albums

For too many years this album was a buried treasure in the Paul Simon back catalogue. Danny Neill takes us on a journey back to 1965 to explore ‘The Paul Simon Songbook’. An innovator always in pursuit of new sounds…An LP recorded in a single day…it was a big deal.

While the album may seem to some like a travelogue, it is actually a journey inside the minds of Mahood, Dybvig and Nash. As Plankton Wat, Future Times lays out out a manifesto for change. We need to listen with open hearts.

If traditions are made to be broken, then Altın Gün has smashed them to bits. But what they have done is reassembled the bits, shaken them around and redeployed them within the framework of Yol. Folk music for the modern dance floor, what a concept!

The first release on Ryley Walker’s new Husky Pants label is a live jam between Ryley’s four-piece band and the Japanese psych-prog five-piece Kikagaku Moyo which has become a Bandcamp best seller – a free-spirited blast of tightly played, highly creative music.

An album of positivity in an uncertain world, The Hoth Brothers new album ‘Tell Me How You Feel’ makes for a damn fine listen with a delightful variety of shades from the Carter Family to John Prine and The Band.

An intriguingly powerful set and a welcome return from Firefay and Alison O’Donnell with a striking use of instrumentation. Embrace the noir.

Soaked is the latest offering from Brussels-based trio Las Lloronas – it’s cool, jazzy and has great harmonies. It won’t fit in a box so don’t try, and perhaps it may not be what you expect but this is an album for repeat play. Excellent.

Sometimes the boldest statements are least expected. Katy Kirby turns just about everything on its head. Cool Dry Place is the kind of statement that announces a new voice ready to be heard again and again.

The songs on Revolutionary love are the fruits of a long and soulful career. DiFranco’s skill at the helm here, sounding almost natural while simultaneously being very experimental on her 20th studio album. Reap the good listens.

Justin Rutledge’s softer Americana/alt folk ambience effortlessly combines his clear, warm and tender voice with an eloquent, poetic lyric-writing strength. One for fans and an excellent primer for newcomers.

Ryan Dugré has created a work that suggests complexity, based not on the number of notes so much as the feelings behind those notes. A wonder exists within the wood and steel.

Recorded at home in isolation, ‘Grounded’ finds John Blek seeking to find a sense of balance and purpose amid the surrounding uncertainty. While experimenting with different compositional techniques it also cuts straight to the heart.