Albums

Safe Travels, the latest offering from Christina Alden & Alex Patterson, is an immensely well-crafted follow-up to their 2021 album, and while familiar, it rapidly delivers unexpected treats. From its beautiful illustrations and fascinating text to the final notes of The Mountain Hare, Safe Travels left a deep, appreciative smile on my face. It’s only May, but I feel I have a strong contender for my album of the year.

For their second album, The World That I Knew, Dublin-based duo Varo perform alongside a revolving cast of collaborators including members of Lankum, John Francis Flynn, Alannah Thornburg, Junior Brother, Lemoncello, Niamh Bury, Anna Mieke and more, picked judiciously from that fertile Dublin scene, and fostered by the sterling production of John ‘Spud’ Murphy. They track contemporary concerns through traditional song, and do so with beauty and fierce compassion.

The Gentle Good’s latest album, Elan, is a concept album of sorts, a study of the Elan Valley in Powys through music, recorded off-grid in the Cambrian mountains. An admirable creation, it’s a broad and generous soundscape for a beloved area of Wales, containing both music and singing that is diverse, adventurous and rich in character. Gareth Bonello’s most ambitious album so far, this bumper collection is a triumph.

With Somnia, Katie Schottland’s Swimming Bell has created something quite magical. While just five songs, the moments, the magic, and the memories reveal a depth to her music that will draw you back for repeated listenings.

Philly-based Friendship’s ‘Caveman Wakes Up’ dwells in the conscious and subconscious mind; both devastating and hilarious, there are also moments of fragile beauty.

Glasgow-based singer Quinie’s ‘Forefowk, Mind Me’ may have been several years in the making, and it may draw heavily on the songs of the past, but it feels like the perfect snapshot of a type of folk music that is unapologetically and gloriously present.

Eli Winter has never put out a bad record, but his music seems to grow in confidence and prowess with each release. A Trick of the Light is a barnstormer – sharp, vital and pretty damn thrilling. Oh yes.

For their latest project, Remscéla, Milkweed engage in vibrant and vital ways with the Táin Bó Cúailnge, a foundational myth of Irish literary and historical tradition. They remain the most exciting band in folk music.

Some 54 years after his 1971 debut, Steve Tilston releases his final album, Last Call. As valuable and worthy as any of his previous recordings, it secures his place as a stellar member of the folk music elite.

With Altogether Stranger, Lael Neale has cooked up a concoction of her own that will be ripe for inspiration to many: an exquisitely crafted masterclass in retro minimalism and free expression.

Iona Lane’s Swilkie is a masterful album full of heartfelt emotion and breathtaking songwriting, and the additional disc of live recordings casts the whole album as a journey from solo endeavour to collaboration, from the bud of an idea to a fully-realised work of art.

On Annie A’s ‘The Wind That Had Not Touched Land’, the boundaries between song, sound art and poetry disappear in a flicker or a haze, and the results are quietly mesmerising.