Albums

Along with Wildwood Kin, Seth Lakeman delivers an all-around winner with his latest album Ballad of The Broken Few. Produced by Ethan Johns it is stacked with winning ingredients that are impossible to resist.

The term ‘Singer-songwriter’ barely scratches the surface of Ruth Theodore’s music, quirky would be an understatement – beyond the considerable instant appeal that Cactacus wields, there’s a wealth of poetry, satire and pure, natural artistry. Cactacus is a wonderful, captivating album.

With a shared appreciation of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, Emma Tricca and Jason McNiff have created a hugely enjoyable and relaxed album. At under 25 minutes, it’s all too short, so here’s hoping for a full-length follow-up.

Recorded during Pentangle’s twelve-date 2008 reunion tour, Finale is a magnificent record in all respects. Treasure this set, for we’ll not see the like of Pentangle again. Out this week on Topic Records.

Anyone seeking the kind of feelgood experience that a straight-up album of good honest Irish traditional music can bring, need look no further than this charming disc, for it delivers nothing less than “the reel thing” with The Reel Note.

Painful though the experience may be, break-ups frequently result in some of an artist’s best work. Luke Winslow-King’s latest offering in ‘I‘m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always’ is no exception.

Moray is a performer of consummate talent, a musician who plays a whole range of instruments on this album, and a singer of rare emotional depth. That he manages to do all this while forging a bright new path for folk music is admirable. That he has done so over six albums and still seems to be hitting his peak while never doing the same thing twice is remarkable.

Featuring co-writes with the likes of Gretchen Peters and Mary Gauthier, The Emigrant is a magnificent album and a substantial addition to the Irish emigrant canon that fully confirms Glover as one of the finest in the Americana genre.

A worthy, if somewhat belated, follow-up to John Prine’s 1999 release ‘In Spite of Ourselves,’ here he is joined by the likes of Iris Dement, Alison Krauss, Holly Williams and more. One of his finest.

Take the time to learn about the beautiful sycamore seed sculpture, created for the album cover by Cornish artist Billy Wynter, and you’ll find the embodiment of what Teyr represent. Teyr make folk music rooted firmly in the future, that future may indeed be Far From The Tree, but then, nothing grows where nothing’s been.

A terrific and highly accomplished piece of work, but its worth far transcends the album to stand as a landmark in the fight to not only illuminate the overlooked role women played in the Great War, but also to serve as a reminder that conflict in the name of right is not the monopoly of the patriarchy.

Richard’s three-years-in-the-making new album, anything but “careless”ly configured and managed, has sure been worth the wait, and contains several individual songs that are, I’m convinced, likely to be regarded as among his best creations.