Albums

Every song is an adventure on a Calexico’s new album “The Thread That Keeps Us.” You’ll find robust songwriting, finely crafted soundscapes, tight horn arrangements and sporadic explosions of layered chaos. A precious gift for difficult times.

As Greg Lawson said on the night – this was one man’s music, and it took this immense event to bring that music back to the stage. This week is the 13th anniversary of Martyn Bennett’s passing, and the music he was making 20 years ago continues to inspire today’s musicians.

What Sam Carter and Jim Moray have created with Harmonograph is fittingly detailed, truly collaborative, varied and often beautiful. It is the work of two modern masters in perfect harmony. In the world of folk and roots music, collaborations don’t get much bigger and better than this.

While not pushing any new musical frontiers, Tyler Childers does make familiar landscapes feel freshly tilled on these songs about the trials, tribulations and temptations of a hardscrabble working life.

Metatonia is Yvonne Lyon’s eighth album – a treat for both existing fans and new audiences alike, this really deserves to make her name and music much wider known.

An album that deserves to be showered with awards, a  testament to both the superb musicianship and songwriting skills of its assembled cast and the continuing relevance and durability of the world’s greatest playwright.

There’s nothing particularly musically fussy here, just the sound of two musicians in perfect synch doing what they do so well and, in the process, crafting what is sure to prove one of this year’s finest albums.

Medicine Songs is a dynamic, full-blooded reminder that, after 54 years of performing, the Canadian-born Cree singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie remains a voice that demands and needs to be heard.

Underscoring both her skill as a storyteller and her background as a musical ethnologist alongside her songwriting craft and understated, intimate and engaging vocals, if North Star was a coming of age, Carey’s third album marks her blossoming into a rich maturity.

Sandwood is the latest offering from Duncan Chisholm. It draws its inspiration from a single location in Sutherland, the furthest northwest part of mainland Scotland. This is music in which to immerse ourselves, allow our minds to build our own links and maybe, one day, to visit.

While it is easy to focus on just how unusual Xylouris White’s latest album sounds, what shouldn’t be overlooked is the overwhelming and unexpected emotional impact it carries. Mother is that rare thing: experimental music with a huge heart.

Stick in the Wheel’s ‘Follow Them True’ establishes them as a band with a singular vision. Yes, it is a brilliant album and will undoubtedly gain great acclaim, but it’s more than just an album for 2018, this is something to treasure for many years to come.