Albums

Beautifully considered, intricate and finely nuanced, SUSS’s ‘Birds & Beasts’ is a great piece of work. Fresh and confident, the album marks a new beginning for the band while acknowledging their lost comrade, Gary Leib.

On the final song of Linda Thompson’s Proxy Music there’s a refrain that pretty much summarises the whole album “Bound together in blood and song, who can break us?/When we are singing loud and strong, who can take us?” I hear no arguments to the contrary.

Beings are the New York City quartet Zoh Amba, Steve Gunn, Shahzad Ismaily and Jim White; their debut album, ‘There is a Garden’, is blistering, beautiful free jazz with an uncommonly sunny and accommodating outlook.

Between the cello of Clément Petit and the vocals of Msaki and Tubatsi, magic occurs. Synthetic Hearts Part II is one of those rare times when the second helping is even better than the first. Collaborations like this happen very rarely. Savour it.

The Decemberists set the bar very high with ‘As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again’, a record packed with highlights, a fully-loaded taste of their essence, pulling in every colour and thread they have touched upon in a long and varied two-decade career.

Their talent as vocalists and harmonists is at the heart of Landless’s immense appeal. Lúireach is a reliquary of rich, dramatic tales and a celebration of resolutely feminist togetherness, yet another triumph for the fantastically productive Irish folk scene.

Marina Allen strikes the perfect balance between clarity and abstraction on Eight Pointed Star, fabricating a beautifully coherent but mysterious collection of songs that combine a gift for songcraft with something approaching lyrical genius.

With Maisha, The Zawose Queens have delivered a debut album that is not only vibrant and spirited but also, at times, electrifying. The traditional sounds of their ancestors, blended with modern-day electronic sounds, signal a new era.

Featuring Agnes Martian, Laraaji, Music for Connection and Hair and Space Museum, Coincidence is a record bursting with the joy of spontaneous creativity. It is both an uncompromising demonstration of free and experimental spiritual jazz and a document attesting to the power of collaboration.

Morning Improvisations / Evening Abstractions, the debut collaboration from Elijah McLaughlin and Caleb Willitz’s, is so packed with creative ideas and endeavours that it defies you to switch off from it for a moment. It’s an ace, energising recording that has something for everyone.

With ‘Days of Shaking,’ M G Boulter takes a deep dive into the darkest corners and the toughest dreams and nightmares that visit during those nocturnal hours. Aiming high, he has taken time to create a full-length work that demands and rewards deep immersion.

Glookies Guit, D.C Cross’s latest offering, encourages deciphering of song titles and deep listening. A musically rich acoustic guitar album of both depth and character, it’s undoubtedly his most accomplished work to date.