Albums

Canada’s The Deep Dark Woods return with another fine selection of folk songs – Broadside Ballads Vol III. It’s a quietly intoxicating album featuring the warm-voiced Ryan Boldt, his band, and special guest Erin Rae.

The one apparently simple thing that has always made Six Organs of Admittance stand out from the crowd is his ability to create cerebral music that’s brimful of soul, and ‘Time is Glass’ is a perfect example of that winning combination.

Northwest & Nebulous is the most layered, complex thing Luce Mawdsley have created to date. It provides an almost utopian glimpse of a particular corner of England, but more importantly, it shows a way of getting there by embracing queerness and unique personal expression.

Scott Ballew has created something that rivals the work of John Prine, Townes VanZandt and even Mr. Zimmerman himself. Rio Bravo keeps sneaking up on you, mixing music and metaphors in the most amazing ways. If it’s not a masterpiece, it’s pretty damn close.

Toby Hay and Aidan Thorne’s ‘after a pause’ is music of sharply-defined brilliance, shot through with the light of the Welsh countryside, and brimming with consideration both for the spirit of collaboration and for the natural world.

Lately, the influence of traditional music, always there somewhere in the background, has made itself more apparent in the music of BIG|BRAVE, and A Chaos Of Flowers continues this trend – a visceral, moving, complex and gloriously heavy piece of work.

With ‘Willson Williams,’ one might be tempted to conclude that Kathryn Williams and Dan Willson are bringing out the best in each other. Despite the melancholy that both typically lean into, there is a feeling of dual purpose and fun resonating through all these tracks.

While The Lostines’ eclectic yet familiar musical influences connect with the listener across their debut album, there is far more going on beneath the surface that makes this duo’s lyrical tales all the more alluring. It’s definitely time for more people to meet them.

Japanese sound artist FUJI||||||||||TA returns to Hallow Ground with his second full-length MMM for the Swiss label, his most complex so far–a masterpiece of conceptual and formal rigour.

Jon Bickley, Angeline Morrison and Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne join forces on Grace Will Lead Me Home, exploring the controversial and complex history surrounding the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’.

Oren Ambarchi is once again joined by the rhythm section of Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin for Ghosted II: an enriching, multi-layered and almost indecently accomplished album.    

With an underlying theme of home, and featuring a number of co-writers and guest musicians, Ben Glover’s ‘And The Sun Breaks Through The Sky’ is a top-notch addition to an already outstanding catalogue.