Albums

Featuring a wealth of special guests, Yvonne Lyon’s ‘Growing Wild’ encourages successive listens, unearthing a tranche of details laid around skillfully crafted songs.

This concluding edition of the Dark Britannica series celebrates the land, nature and seasonal cycles. A rich tapestry interweaving backgrounds and approaches. A crafted artefact in keeping with its almost pre-industrial contents, as if we are among ancestors.

Combining literary flavours with life experiences, stories from the road, personal observations, and contemplations of the world around him, Moranz’s excellent songs are the satisfying end result.

An Bhuatais & The Meaning of Life exemplifies the sean nós tradition and beautifully continues it along its path. By all means, dig deeper, read the superb accompanying booklet, but first of all, enter the space and just listen. Excellent.

As his song put it, JT spent his life Looking For A Place To Land, this magnificent album from Steve Earle finds him and his legacy safe in his father’s loving arms.

Both Emma Scarr and Black have gathered a solid following for their albums and live shows in and around their stomping ground, this terrific album once again reinforcing that their music, together or solo, is deserving of a far wider and far bigger audience.

Tin whistle player Kevin Meehan has injected extra variety into a musical mix that was already overflowing with talent and imagination and has made Spanish Point an album to cherish.

Countless Isles And Endless Miles, Trail West’s fourth studio album, marks a significant milestone in the band’s history and represents a bold affirmation of their right to be considered up there with the very best in the genre.

Bob Fish looks back at 2020 and shares his Top 10 Albums including Bob Dylan, Gwenifer Raymond, Rowan Leslie, Andrew Tuttle, The Innocence Mission, Swamp Dogg, Steve Dawson, Tamikrest and more.

Harriet Riley and Alex Garden deliver a compelling and beautiful album. If you have an adventurous side to your nature this CD will reward you well.

Hadrian’s Union return with a rousing set of songs on their new EP Permission. Founder, Stew Simpson, has done well to expand his vision into a fuller band setting.

John Whalley shares his Top 10 Albums of 2020 – Track Dogs, Gigspanner Big Band, The Ledger, Will Pound, The Haar, Project Smok, The Magpies, Dirk Powell, Shooglenifty & Lauren MacColl.