Albums

Never the Same Way Twice is a new album from The Memory Band, marking the twentieth anniversary of their debut EP. These previously unreleased recordings present a tantalising glimpse of two decades of hauntological and heartfelt collective excursions across the ancient and magical British landscape.

Dana Gavanski’s Late Slap is unlike anything else in her back catalogue. It appeals directly to the senses, every moment an invitation to immersion. A detailed and accomplished work, its fleshy and often complex sound never gets in the way of its inherently airy melodicism.

All My Friends is Aoife O’Donovan’s finest yet. Veined with intimate personal and political passion, it’s a timely, broader testament to the power of the community of women to bring about change.

Awen Ensemble’s Cadair Idris presents proof that not only wooden instruments conjure a response to wilderness lands or scenic rivers. Woven from modern jazz repertoires with a mythic folk essence, this is an audacious and promising debut.

Afrobeat music from Chile might sound incongruous, but whether you are a fan of the genre or are new to it, ignoring Grietas, the latest release from Newen Afrobeat, would be a mistake, such is its driving power, authenticity, and message.

The open vistas and isolating landscape of Jeff Rutherford’s film, ‘A Perfect Day For Caribou’, are perfect for Marisa Anderson to explore in her improvisations on piano and guitar.

Needlefall, the new album from North Carolina’s Magic Tuber Stringband, is perhaps their most accomplished and cohesive record to date. An intense musical experience that’s also exceptionally rewarding.

On LORCAN, Vancouver-based Laucan and Brighton-based producer Samuel Organ explore ethereal folk and avant-garde electronica. Listen to the album opener, Aignish On The Machiar, featuring a field recording from a 1973 trip to the Inner Hebrides.

John Smith’s ‘The Living Kind’ is an understatedly emotional and introspectively melancholic celebration of hope and light in the face of despair and darkness…It’s a masterpiece.

Son of the Velvet Rat just keep getting better, and on Ghost Ranch, they are joined by several special guests, including Jolie Holland and Marc Ribot, to deliver what is unquestionably an album of the year.

Jack Francis’ Early Retirement is a ‘stupendous’ concept album about endings and new beginnings, riding out fallen dreams, and trying to navigate modern society as an old soul in a new world.

Bring The Tide In is a rather lovely ebb-and-flow quartet of poignancy-tinged songs that serve as a reminder of Iona Lane’s luminescent talent and is hopefully an early signpost of a new album in the not-too-distant future.