Albums

Including members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra it’s a curious, but entirely engaging mix of musicians on Songs of the Sea, a moving, sincere album, and one that promises interesting things to come from Green.

TRADarrr are mining a rich seam of traditional songs in their search for material, but it is the flair and imagination going into the arrangements that set them apart as proven here.

With The Silver Sun, Eamon O’Leary has created an album that reminds of the things we may have forgotten over the past twelve months. He extends to us the “forgiveness of time.” In these days we need to hold on to that and to each other.

Kristin Davidson and Carolyn Phillips, who hail from Austin Texas, make a resilient combination – while their band name suggests a toughness to their music they also know tenderness.

Sweet As Honey is an album filled with themes of metaphorical journeys, the happiness of community and the soul-affirming warmth of the earth, it is a jubilant, inspiring, and genuine feel-good album.

Described as Finnish folk-bluegrass, Paula Wolksi’s “Lato” is a wonderful album, diverse and stirring, bound up in joy, love and first-class musicianship.

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.