Albums

We chat to The McGoldrick Family about ‘One For The Road’…we’re in total agreement with Brendan McGoldrick, his son, Michael McGoldrick and their three granddaughters have made “a mighty record”.

‘Diamond Days’, his first solo album in four years, finds Brooks Williams at his very best with just those six strings and vocal cords for company.

Listening to ‘gratitude’, the latest album from Cassie Kinoshi’s seed., requires some investment of both mind and spirit. Made from the raw materials of Kinoshi’s life, gratitude overflows with harmony and clarity.

The hugely successful theatrical production of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown returns to London and this reissue of the Original Broadway Cast Recording is the next best thing to seeing the production in its entirety.

On Charlie, Swimming Bell deliberately takes an alternative musical path, singing and playing with colours not often found in the scheme. Charlie establishes its own parameters, transcending simple labels to create a sound all its own.

Frontier Ruckus’ ‘On the Northline’ is lifted over the minor keys as they explore the redemptive power of love and the potential for salvation when life can appear at its bleakest. A highly recommended album.

Oisín Leech’s Cold Sea is an album of rapt meditations on life and love, set against the wild Irish landscape. These are songs that flow placidly, broodingly, leaving the listener awed into silence.

Snow from Yesterday is a shimmering album from the acclaimed Austrian composer Manu Delago featuring Mad About Lemon vocal ensemble. Mesmeric and fresh, it holds a hopeful candle to the human spirit.

Natascha Rogers’ ‘Onaida’ is a laid-back and immensely satisfying album. She has created a personalised aural space reflecting motifs such as her Native American ancestry, spirituality, compassion, humanity, the natural world, and womanhood—one to savour.

Eric Brace and Thomm Jutz’s ‘Simple Motion’ is a highly appealing album by two consummate musicians who have nothing to prove, making music for the joy of it and, in turn, affording that same experience in those who hear it.

Released this month on Ireland’s Nyahh Records, Mohammad Syfkhan’s “I Am Kurdish” comes highly recommended from us – filled with an atmosphere of joy, love and happiness, the release also underpins the label’s strong support of independent artists and their innovative roster.

Milkweed’s ‘Folklore 1979’ is one of the most invigorating and interesting releases of recent years. While the duo would no doubt balk at the term masterpiece, as long as Folklore 1979 exists in the world, it will have to contend with such labels.