Albums

Bloomin’ Josh Okeefe is a great debut, full of enduring songs ranging from the comic to the tragic which are sure to bloom even further when Josh sings them live.

Taking his experience of filmmusic composition and applying it to folk music, Roly Witherow creates soundscapes and atmosphere that tell the story as much as the melody and lyrics.

An evocative mixture of psychedelic folk and hauntology – a fertile sound-world of tape loops, spine-tingling vocals and an almost visceral connection to the natural world.

Avoiding the highways tends to slow one down. You can’t drive quite as fast, but you get a better view of the countryside. For Jason Simon, that’s the point. What you see along the way makes all the difference. A Venerable Wreck is the proof of that.

He’s no contender, he’s no pretender, he’s someone who’s been on the canvas and got up to win the fight. And as this album once again proves, he has the heart and soul of a champion who stares truth in the eye and doesn’t flinch.

Bare nerves and raw emotions, backed by arrangements fueled with a combination of power and panache create the heart and danger at the soul of Paddy Dennehy’s music.

Not only is this a great album, it is also an important one. Shiran sees no boundaries in her art – a powerful female voice in the contemporary Arabic world bringing people together to celebrate their shared heritage and not further divide their perceived differences.

The story of this album is beautiful and touching in itself but the music that is in a way a distillation of Douglas’s experiences of a situation and his journey through it is truly special.

The Mammals return with a world-class album expanding their lineup to embrace bandmates old and recent as well as special guests.

Recorded in April during lockdown, Paul and Naomi’s “I’ve Got A Fever” is a musical delight, and hopefully a foretaste of another full album.

Possessing what appears to be an uncanny innate ability, and with two fine albums already under his belt, Quin with One N is set to enjoy a long and very bright musical future.

Celticana is the second collection from the Aberdeen duo Steve Crawford & Spider MacKenzie. While its roots are firmly embedded in American traditions, the lyrics and narratives hail from Scotland.