Albums

The Honeycutters return with a follow-up to last year’s breakout ‘Me Oh My’. ‘On the Ropes’ is unquestionably one of the finest Americana albums of 2016; you really do want to be in their corner.

Ruth Keggin’s passion for bringing traditional Manx songs and melodies to a wider audience shines through on Turrys. The contemporary nuances are enriched by imaginative and uplifting musicianship from her band.

Over six years after his self-released lost classic debut, My Lovely Son returns with an album documenting a period of both apprehension and hope at a crossroads in the musician’s life. “Despite the pain of its creation, I can assure Minhas that the end result was well, well worth it. “

This is an extraordinary album: exceedingly hypnotic and strongly individual, while at the same time intensely moving, elemental and Powerful. It’s proved all too easy to fall under its spell, and I’m hooked for good, with the disc on pretty constant replay.

Much like the album’s title the songs on Emily Jane White’s latest offering share a special musical and dramatic unity, whose intimacy is sometimes quite overpowering in spite of its pervasive sense of distance and shadowy remove.

Instar finds Nancy Kerr at the height of her creative powers. It’s vital, visceral and urgent – balm for our woes, hope for our future: an essential companion for these turbulent times.

The Fruited Thorn is a moving and incredibly impressive celebration of traditional song. It succeeds in combining Kaela’s love of experimentation with her love of traditional song, a truly mesmerising album.

John Paul White’s ‘Beulah’ is a deeply personal album that is both ambitious and revealing. “Upon emerging, it feels like you’ve been on a journey alongside the artist, the telltale sign of a remarkable record.”

Johnny shares his highlights of this year’s Tiree Music Festival which included Skerryvore, Sharon Shannon, Trail West, Breabach, Skippinish, Flook and more.

Mendrugo is a beautiful collaboration between musicians from different cultures who share a deep love for their respective musical traditions and an irreverent, and irresistible, sense of fun. There should be more records made like this.

East is an excellent taster of what Iona Fyfe and her band have to offer, and I can’t wait to hear more at one of the string of live dates still to come in Scotland.

Three years on from their Daisy Roots debut, the Midlands-based five-piece The Jigantics are back with Seconds Out, an equally impressive sophomore outing.