Albums

Peter shares his highlights of the first ever Walton Folk Festival, a sold-out event with afternoon and evening sessions and a lineup of acts that could grace established folk festivals many times its size.

The big-voiced Belfast-based singer-songwriter Matt McGinn returns with his third studio album ‘The End of the Common Man’, his strongest and most confident step forward to date.

A shift to more introspective material merely confirms not only his latent talent but also that, with Notes From An Island, his journey as one of our foremost singer-songwriters continues to be in the ascendancy. His most accomplished album so far.

It’s no great stretch to say that Anne Briggs is our greatest folk singer, and if this new release brings her incomparable talent to a wider audience, then it will be the least she deserves. 

III is a folk album played with the inventiveness of jazz and the control of chamber music. It is suffused with pastoral light but anchored in earthy realism, unshowy but technically innovative, driven by emotion but never sentimental.

One might assume the lyrics alone would be the highlight on this release, and they are indeed touching. However, the performances are equally impressive – each contributor clearly understood the gravity of these words and put forward a special effort.

Recorded against the backdrop of division brought out about by the Trump election Birds of Chicago deliver an album of positivity: “We want to give people some good news, and we want them to be able to dance when they hear it.” Consider both boxes duly ticked.

Senyawa take on the role of outsiders. Their music is a constant series of volte-faces against what is predictable or what is considered normal. Or rather, they distill the weirdness, the wonderful crookedness, inherent in what passes for normality in a fast-moving and hugely diverse culture.

On this new collection, The Broken Heart of Everything, the gorgeous, rustic folk melodies and Francey’s lyrical prowess remain as reliably solid as they have been since his 1999 debut, Torn Screen Door.

Sarah Louise’s Deeper Woods offers a broader sonic palette and the textures are more intricate and ambitious. The result is at once beautiful and beguiling; a hugely listenable spiritual abstract journey through deep and ancient landscapes, where there is always much to find and delight.

Two years on from their critically adored duo debut, Before The Sun, Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage return with an even more accomplished collection. A new phase in their music and the perfect match.

A glorious album. Daniel Meade really deserves to be far better known than he is, this album makes you want to go up and down the nation’s streets, knocking on doors and playing it to whoever answers.