Albums

Even after several plays, All That Remains remains an enigmatic record, whose resolutely beautiful meanderings are destined to haunt the listener; you simply have to get immersed in Mark and Alison’s visionary music – don’t leave yourself outside!

Changing Colours is the latest album from The Sheepdogs. With the broader musical palette on offer and the substantial quality throughout, this may well be the album that finds them attracting a broader audience outside their native Canada.

Ninebarrow’s The Waters & The Wild is a testament that this is a duo of traditional integrity. They will not conform and jump on the latest bandwagon. Instead, they have the patience and confidence to gently sew new patterns onto familiar tapestry.

Yes, it’s a bleak album – that’s it’s intent. But the compulsion to listen echoes the determination of those Victorian adventurers. There is something mystical and otherworldly about these three musicians and the alchemy they produce together. It’s well worth the treacherous journey to reach the other side.

Ross Ainslie & Ali Hutton have yet again proven themselves to be not only masters of Scottish traditional music but at the very forefront of the movement that continues to breathe new life into that music, inspiring the next generation. Symbiosis was beguiling, Symbiosis II is utterly hypnotic.

With Cahalen Morrison, Ethan Lawton and Jim Miller all taking lead vocals, writing the songs and switching between instruments, honky-tonk supergroup Western Centuries offer a range of colours – Country songs to drink to, dance to and cry to, get lost in the flood.

The cumulative effect of ‘The Great Untold’ is at once stilling, affirmative and inspiring, as you emerge at the other end as if you’ve been soaking in a bath of aural dead sea salts.  Matthews says that when he’s writing, “I’m almost hearing voices from The Masters and thinking: ‘Would they approve?’” Most assuredly.

The Fretless could feasibly be an important group, a cultural force that could, as they definitely intend, reach many uninitiated ears.  It is what happened to me when I saw them live, so what better than a sizzling live album to convert others? Raw and Exciting from start to finish.

‘The Next Chapter’ is the latest offering from Connla who hail from the cities of Armagh and Derry. It’s an album where panache, energy, and style abound and it needs to be listened to with the same care and attention that has so obviously gone into its production. 

This is absolutely primo Canadian roots music, entirely relatable, emotionally rewarding, and if, at the very least, it fails to gain a Songwriter of the Year nomination for the 2019 Juno Awards, it will be both bewildering and an injustice.

Yarrow Acoustic Sessions is a bold and tender piece of art; current and timeless. It takes songs heard before into new and exciting dimensions with cultural integrity and authenticity.

Subtlety and grace abound in this album. There is something about voices in harmony that make you feel good – and Landless have this to perfection. There are no airs and graces, just beautiful harmonies, their sound uplifting and spiritual, even ethereal.