Albums

It’s rare that a compilation warrants an album of the year tag, but ‘The Essential Gretchen Peters’ does. Released to coincide with her UK Tour which kicks off at Celtic Connections this month.

Photographs of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy often show him squinting in the light of a real or imagined sun, his brow shiny with the sweat of the boozer, the fervent preacher, the madman or the honest labourer….on this timely collection we are offered new and tantalising views of them all.

Read our Live Review of The Shee’s launch of their Continuum Project at Celtic Connections also featuring Karine Polwart, Chris Wood, Andy Cutting, Kathryn Tickell and Martin Simpson.

Young five-piece Cornish band Flats and Sharps release their new album King Of My Mind – a Saturday night record, a going out, indulgent, unrestrained binge of an album that frequently delights.

With ‘Undercurrents’, Amy Duncan takes us beneath the visible surface, beyond our immediate perception, to the myriad, unpredictable depths. Words like ‘captivating’, ‘exceptional’ and ‘powerful’ only scratch the surface.

For The Final Waltz Ciaran has assembled a band that includes some of the most talented new arrivals on the folk scene. As well as showcasing some fine musicianship we also get a glimpse of his less well known songwriting skills. The Ciaran Algar Band are on tour from March 2016.

Kelly Oliver has created an album which crosses musical boundaries, full of thought-provoking lyrics and musical arrangements this is sure to attract a wider mainstream audience to her already rapidly growing fan-base.

Recorded over the space of ten days in Penner’s hand built wooden shack in the back of beyond Sex & Politics is a rough hewn blast of folk, blues, Gospel and vintage rock’n’roll tempered with layers of electronic wizardry provided by sidekick Jon Wood.

Whilst their music belies their age, Mortal Tides are clearly destined to do great things. Light In / Light Out sets them firmly on that path, in what is sure to be one of the most notable debut albums of the year.

‘Rain falls when God spills his cup. We’re down here forever cleaning it up’ – For Picott, it’s how you hold the mop that is the measure of your life.

Tim O’Brien’s latest offering ‘Pompadour’ offers a new approach from the bluegrass maestro – with a greater emphasis on electric guitar and mandolin expect a few surprises.

With Everything Sacred Yorkston, Thorne and Khan have created an album that bristles with inventiveness and skill, one that is more than the sum of its already impressive parts.