Albums

While Brown Horse may be from Norfolk, ‘Reservoir’, strongly suggests that their musical souls are rooted in the soil tilled at Big Pink and lit by a harvest moon. Their music is capable of both molten ferocity and tender sepia-grained caresses. A hugely confident debut.

Norman Paterson’s ‘Stornoway’ is, like his debut, drawn from deeply personal roots and universally recognisable memories, enfolded in unfussy but infectious hummable melodies. It’s a hugely listenable and relatable album.

With The Outset, Project Smok display to perfection just how satisfying their music can be, having developed a framework that ensures both traditional and electronic instruments sit comfortably together. A rewarding listen.

With Mount Matsu, global psych rockers YĪN YĪN have produced their most eclectic and adventurous album to date, and the view from the top is well worth the ascent.

Relics is the debut album of a young Danish experimental trance rock quartet called Antistatic, whose highly rhythmical style is both unique and adventurous.

Junkboy’s ‘Littoral States’ is an engulfing and satisfying half-hour – melodic, intelligent, haunting music that slips in and out of genres but always stays true to the overarching theme of places and how human emotions interact with them.

“Historic Classic Concert – Live In Nottingham 1986” proves what a fascinating maze the Richard Thompson live concert archive promises to be, oh for the chance to explore the whole treasure trove in depth.

On Vision of Three, the latest album from the Scandinavian trio Northern Resonance, they blend traditional and modern music in ways that know no boundaries. It is joy unbound.

Melodically engaging and lyrically thoughtful, musically, ‘Halfsies’ sets Lizzie No alongside Rhiannon Giddens and Allison Russell with Toni Morrison as a bedrock, it’s already secured a place in the 2024 Best of list.

Alongside moments of restraint and beauty, James Elkington’s ‘Me Neither’ is a fascinating insight into the encyclopaedic mind of a particularly creative and accomplished musician.

On ‘This Is What I Want To Say’, Martyn Joseph delivers with heartfelt eloquence songs of love and longing, of place and time, of finding certainty amid contradictions.

The Bert Jansch Foundation release ’80 Plays for Bert, Volume 1′, in which his music and legacy are celebrated through a new generation of artists who have taken inspiration from his work. It will resonate with Jansch fans and beyond.