Albums

We catch Laura Cantrell at the dramatic St. John The Evangelist Church in Oxford as part of her tour in support of both the 16th anniversary vinyl edition of her debut album and the new At the BBC On Air Performances & Recordings 2000-2005.

Gemma has an honesty of expression, a quality that’s indelibly imprinted on her vocal cords. Such Mortal Sport is highly captivating and absolutely compulsive listening.

An assured and beautifully realised collection of songs which will undoubtedly appeal to existing fans and newcomers alike and has all the makings of being a significant and well-deserved crossover success.

On the eponymous EP introducing the instrumental music of Aerialists to the world, Gaelic and Scandinavian folk traditions interweave with jazz and just a hint of rock in an intoxicating blend.

Along with his collaborators, The Kaniks, Stanley Brinks has made yet another glorious album which celebrates the individuality of us all at the same time as it reminds us we’re not all that different, really, under the skin. Plus we have an exclusive album stream.

Allysen Callery returns with her new album ‘The Song the Songbird Sings’ for which we also have an exclusive album stream. Her reputation is sure to grow with this release which calls to mind the late 60’s/70’s progressive folk.

An album that provides all the Jayhawks elements that keep the fans hoping for another album, yet still managing to strike forth into new territory. It isn’t simply good to see them back – it’s better than ever to see them back.

A record on which the modern and the classical collide and whose restful exterior conceals a heart of dark, beautiful energy. William Blake would surely have approved.

One of the most rewarding Canadian roots releases of 2016 so far…from a base of indie rock with folk-rock, country, blues and even gospel thrown in the pot Roberts Hall have produced a cohesive full-length debut that’s a compelling listen.

Try to give the music a name if you will; acoustic-roots, folk-pop – labels don’t really matter and would certainly be difficult to apply. Serenity Sessions is, above everything else, great fun to listen to.

David Francey is one of those rare artists, of any genre, whose writing and performance skills are of such a consistently high standard that he never drops the ball. This fact is once again emphatically borne out with the release of his 11th album, Empty Train.

An exhaustively beautiful paean to place and time. We should perhaps listen to it in the same way that Moult conceived and recorded it: in stillness and solitude, with our minds at sea.