Albums

With their lead singer’s mesmeric vocals and the bands occasional and very sparing harmonies, each of the album’s ten songs is a perfect little jewel. A strong debut from London-based Alvarez Theory, a band you’ll want to keep on your radar.

Kelly Hunt puts her vintage Depression-era calfskin tenor banjo to good use on her debut album, a collection of often story-led self-penned songs – we strongly suggest you should keep an eye on this sparrow.

Out of Sight is a fascinating set of old songs linked to the present through unpretentiously lovely music and singing. Jake Fussell is a singular talent and very valuable interpreter and this is his most beautifully realised album yet.

On Nick Hart latest offering, his effortless phrasing, the clarity and simplicity of the song, the voice, the guitar, entrap the listener and pull us into the timeless – then and now – world of the folk song. Excellent again.

Folk Radio UK’s Johnny Whalley headed to Ibiza for Costa Del Folk recently and kept a festival diary whilst there. Read part one featuring Efrén López Trio, Show of Hands, Seth Lakeman, The Outside Track and more.

In the Felice Brothers’ third album, Undress, you can hear some of Bruce Springsteen’s desperately yearning pathos, a Gothic darkness related to the rugged beauty of their home upstate New York, the boundless energy of early punk rock, and a thorough mastery of Americana…

David Weir catches Rachel & Becky Unthanks and Niopha Keegan at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre on their ‘As We Are’ tour, an unadorned acapella trio performance. An evening which demonstrates not only their breadth of repertoire but the depth of their poetic expression and interests.

Cricket Blue’s lyrics and influences are beautifully couched and lovingly incorporated, resulting in a fresh sounding, true delight of an album that fully deserves to provide the serotiny to see the duo blossom from germination into full radiant bloom.

Already a sizeable chart success and with a  UK tour lined up for October, Sutherland has spent most of his adult inhabiting characters and life telling stories. This is firm evidence that he can do it with behind a guitar just as well as he can do it in front of a camera.

There are songs within songs, rhythms that push both hard and soft, sung with an unorthodox approach that never feels inaccessible or out of place. It is Russo’s mysterious and alluring style that underlines her considerable talent, Something-in-movement is nothing short of a masterpiece.

This is a true portrait of a young performer enjoying the art of captivating an audience and mastering his songs without losing any of himself along the way. Joshua Burnside may not be typical Irish Folk, but he is everything it should stand for, and no doubt will bring it to new places for years to come.

Now performing as a duo The Maes latest self-titled offering is a terrific softly brushed folksy Americana album and as sublime as ever. Go on and treat yourself.