Albums

Richard Thompson’s Cambridge gig leans heavily on the high tempo rockers with only a couple of pauses for some, typically breathtaking, solo acoustic interludes…It really is time we were all standing up in appreciation of Richard Thompson.

Lisa O’Neill’s ‘Heard a Long Gone Song’ is easily one of the greatest surprises I’ve enjoyed for some time; an exceptional album that will make the trad music scene stand up and take notice; if it doesn’t, there’s something far wrong with the trad music scene.

Ben Walker’s ‘The Fox on the Downs’ is his first solo EP on which he showcases his deft and intricate fingerstyle guitar with jaw-dropping arrangements of four solo guitar instrumentals. More, Please!

Vesper Sky is a new project that comprises a unique collection of songs and poems. It’s a collaboration between Yvonne Lyon, Carol Henderson and Stewart Henderson, a poet, songwriter and broadcaster whose own work has significantly influenced Yvonne’s writing over many years.

Shooglenifty & Dhun Dhora have realised a beautiful dream and produced an album of exciting, intoxicating, exceptional music. This collaboration takes that Shoogle spark of adventure to new levels.

A Cure for the Curious is an interesting and intriguing album by three talented and highly accomplished musicians breathing new life into time-honoured musical traditions with style, flair and fun. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it led Solasta to some very interesting places indeed.

Some People I Know is a well-produced album which for lovers of harmony singing is a real treat. Coupled with the well-constructed songs and impeccable musicianship it’s certainly an album you should check out.

Wild Hxmans finds Sweden’s answer to Tindersticks’ Stuart Staples and Nick Cave combined brooding on a world in transition, the X replacing the U in the title symbolic of the way we cross others out and ignore them.

Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale is so wonderful that words really can’t do it justice. As nature writer Robert McFarlane once said “Language is always late for its subject. Sometimes …I just say ‘wow’”. Listen and be wowed. Her best album yet.

Kirsty Merryn arrived in London to deliver a fabulous concert at Camden’s Green Note in support of her highly regarded debut album She & I. The emotion she conveyed and her breathtaking vocals were the stars of the show.

The album’s strongest standalone tracks come in the middle, as the LP slowly builds its own sort of momentum between the lo-fi Elliot Smith sounding ‘out of your mind’ and ‘blue-red horses’. In between, ‘cradle’ has a gorgeous serenity that recalls Julie Byrne’s 2017 release Not Even Happiness.

It’s hard to think of a band that has achieved so much and made such an impact on the trad music scene in their first 3 years, as Glasgow based trio Talisk. ‘Beyond’ is the next thrilling step on that journey as they bring ever more craft and excitement to their music.