Albums

Kris Drever puts on a top performance at Fareham’s Ashcroft Arts Centre. Singing audience favourites from his first solo album through to the title track of his latest which has led to one of his two BBC Folk Award Nominations this year.

The musical idiom of The Straw Bear Band’s ‘Eccentric Heart’ is one of immediacy and power, bright and convivial garage-folk with pop-style hooks and melodies. This whole mini-album contains much that’s both appealing and memorable.

Taking inspiration from Arthur Miller’s landmark 50s play, Jason Steel’s Crucible Songs adopts a minimalist approach which produces a paradoxically rich musical tapestry. this is a limited-edition release so get it while you can.

Fairport Convention celebrate their 50th Anniversary with 50:50@50. The mix of studio and live recordings along with the special guests, including Robert Plant and Jacqui McShee ensures there’s something for everyone.

By filtering the essence of (especially) early-to-mid-70s Grateful Dead (improvisational soloing intact) through earthy country twang and folk-rock stylings, Real Ponchos have absolutely knocked it out of the park with their sophomore album, To the Dusty World.

Apparently, it was ‘The Brother Brothers’ contemporaries that had been urging them to make music together for some time. Thankfully they finally decided to listen. Now it’s your turn.

Featuring some of the best recording artists on the English folk music circuit, From Here: English Folk Field Recordings is a celebration of the democratic nature of folk music, but more than that, it is proof that this kind of recording still matters on the most visceral of levels.

Julie Byrne’s latest album Not Even Happiness contains vast themes of travel and belonging which collide in moments of limpid beauty. Delivered with wisdom, wonder and quiet certainty.

The music of Bristol-based The Nightjar demands to be listened to in an isolation chamber to allow it to seep into the pores, but, like the nocturnal bird after which the band are named, its near silent flight is unerring.

For their latest album, Tricks of the Trade, Dipper Malkin weave a veritable tapestry of sound that honours a long tradition, whilst adding the golden thread of the unexpected.

Norwegian singer-songwriter Torgeir Waldemar returns with new album ‘No Offending Borders,’ an album of surprising contemplative depth and musical variety. One worth seeking out.

On ‘The Other Side,’ Adaya successfully reimagines folk music through the bright window of intelligent songcraft and genuinely experimental arrangements. It is an intensely varied and often mesmerising release from a unique voice.