Albums

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.

Based on Matt Carmichael’s debut album we can, and should, expect great things in future from these guys as individuals and as a quartet. Where Will The River Flow is one for late nights…close your eyes and bathe in it! Top-quality music.

On her debut EP ‘Here, Now’, Australian songstress Jessie Monk sounds like Joni Mitchell’s long-lost daughter, with her effortless dance between the higher and lower registers of her voice, witty lyrics, and guitar.

Yonder Boys debut album ‘Acid Folk’ breaks through the walls of genre, convention, and predictability, taking you on a wild ride which you don’t want to get off.

Described as a way to make sense of what it means to be human, connect, embrace change, and face another day…Valley Maker reminds us that the night is not endless.

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne’s vocals and box-playing delve deep into the songs and tunes with an alarming virtuosity. For all those who don’t yet revere the squeezebox in all its glorious forms, this might well make a few converts.

Bill Stone wrote songs that played out like dreamy meditations. The delivery is soft-focused and hushed, Lo-fi before lo-fi existed…This is definitely one of those rare records that deserve the wider discovery it will now surely enjoy.