Albums

Damien Jurado’s Private Hospital arrives as a unique book and download package, concluding his “Reggae Film Star” pentalogy. The combination of song lyrics and photo essay (Jurado is an avid collector of ‘found photos’) is abstract but powerful, creating a sense of wistfulness, melancholy or the uncanny. It is a cinematic, poetic collection that starts like a dream but reveals deep emotional resonance upon repeated listens.

Steve Gunn’s “Daylight Daylight” creates songs that are light as air but carry with them the weight of imagination. The music skirts genre, moving from chamber-folk to art-rock and jazz, evoking Nick Drake and John Martyn. Gunn builds compelling atmospheres through layered instrumentation, enveloping strings, and quiet, soulful singing. These songs stretch out, replacing gimmicks with sustained intensity. An engrossing album of dignified beauty.

Tepid Toad Records presents a new double A-side from avant-folk duo Alula Down, featuring Mark Waters’ double bass with Kate Gathercole’s alluring, dreamy vocals. From the haunting, poignant field recordings of “High Germany” to the warm improvisation of “Summer Song,” this atmospheric release arrives on November 14th on digital and limited-edition 7″ lathe-cut vinyl.

Robin Adams’ “The Beggar,” is a superb album. Contrasting in mood with his previous work, the nine songs feature strong songwriting alongside intelligent and often adventurous musicianship. While his fingerpicked acoustic guitar is at the core of each song, subtle strings, bowed cello, and percussion frequently enhance the sound, creating a gorgeous, elegiac atmosphere. It’s lean, creative, and packs exceptional depth, deserving many accolades.

Goblin Band’s A Loaf of Wax is a stirring and often spectacular live recording. The quartet can whip up a frenzied sandstorm of sound and transition to delicate sensitivity with consummate ease. They capture the kinetic energy and shared joy of folk music, a medium that thrives not only on shared space and collaboration, but also on shared feeling and companionship. Goblin Band are the best of all possible companions.

Robyn Hitchcock’s “Invisible Hitchcock (Outtakes and Demos)” gets a re-release on December 15th. Originally from 1986, the collection gathers home recordings and studio outtakes from his fertile 1981-1985 period, which produced albums like I Often Dream of Trains. Hitchcock preferred this “homemade” approach, avoiding the “digital patina” of 1980s pop to capture his best, most intimate performances.

Black Sweat Records releases Mariolina Zitta’s Concert For Bats, Voices and Natural Sounds. This arcane work, born from speleology and sound archaeology, is a “magical ritual” celebrating bats. Using special detectors, Zitta transforms bat calls into an organic synthesiser, fusing them with natural instruments like stalactites and bone whistles, plus harmonic singing. A total sensory experience.

For their debut EP, daisy, Leilani Patao does things differently, refusing streaming platforms to foster a personal connection. The music is a compelling high-wire act, balancing experimental, glitched-out hyperpop with perfectly structured, dreamy pop-rock. Patao’s immense songwriting talent shines through the lo-fi, grungy production, creating a release that feels both diaristic and wonderfully detached.

Sam Shackleton proves himself an exceptional talent, breathing fresh life into traditional folksongs on ‘Scottish Cowboy Ballads & Early American Folk Songs’, a deeply personal album dedicated to his late father, with whom he used to busk these very songs. “Sam is wrestling music away from Guthrie’s dustbowl and re-dressing it in a seasoned tartan, aglow with heritage and proudly re-rooting it in an unmistakably Scottish soil.”

On How You Been, SML perfect their collaging technique. Tracks sound more complex and intuitive, and they instinctively work a groove, moving from space-age synths to gritty, organic minimalism. Variety is key, from creeping percussion to soft-focus krautrock. This is improvised music at its most engaging and immediate. SML have created another special album, one that forges bright new pathways in American jazz.

Miniseries’ debut “Pilot” is as cinematic as its title suggests. This episodic collection, featuring Angie Gannon (The Magic Numbers) and Doug Morch (Longview), careens through spooky, unsettling spaces while retaining a thoughtful structure. Building from soundtrack vibes to rustic folk, it’s a thoughtful, addictive sonic adventure that will hook the alert listener.

“Normal Town,” The Dreaming Spires’ first album in nearly a decade, finds the band’s love of rock ‘n’ roll romance undimmed. Inspired by Didcot, dubbed England’s “most normal town,” the record mixes nostalgia-fuelled anthems with reflective ballads. It explores themes of escape, alienation, and atomisation, but ultimately celebrates the redemptive power of music and finds pleasure in the ordinary.