Albums

Steven Adams has already been called a national musical treasure, and on ‘Drops’, he charts a course between songs which contrast light and shade, the serious alongside the humourous. We should be grateful that some fifteen years on, he is still forging his own unique path.

On Echo Me On, everything goes down so smoothly that Lee Baggett’s songs take you by total surprise; he says so much but with such effortless grace. Features in Folk Radio’s Top 100 Albums of 2023.

With Collage, Erlend Apneseth Trio move further into experimental territory. Joined by singer Maja Ratkje, Collage is a masterful, almost mesmeric achievement. Their never dull attitude to recording seems to recognise music as a kind of palpable measure of deep time.

This month, Scissor Tail Records release Gary Peters’s “Beginnings: Collected Pedal Steel Works”, a rewarding album that both challenges and engages.

Recommended: Out now on Sean Conrad’s Seattle-based ambient/devotional Inner Islands label, Wide Ranging Rider is the latest offering from Stefan Beck, aka Golden Brown…emblazoned with originality throughout.

The viola and viol combination on Nick Hart and Tom Moore’s “The Colour of Amber” adds a beautiful richness and depth to the songs and tunes, and the album stands head and shoulders above just about any other English traditional album of the last few years.

‘Light Years’ is everything we could have hoped for and so much more. This seamless blend of old and new, tradition and novelty, epitomises what both Christmas and Kate Rusby are all about.

Grace the Blue is the assured solo debut album from The Shee’s Olivia Ross. Given the strength of her songwriting and ability to choose a lineup of the finest backing musicians, it’s to be hoped that the wait for her sophomore release is far shorter. 

Hank Wangford and Noel Dashwood’s ‘Promises Promises’ is an absolute delight and if there was a UK version of the Country Hall Of Fame, this is a perfect reason why both of them should be inducted.

With ‘Sule Skerry’, Hildaland, featuring Scottish fiddler Louise Bichan and American mandolinist Ethan Setiawan, deliver a refreshing and delectable debut album not to be missed.

ØXN’s unwillingness to conform in any way to stereotypes makes them one of the most vital acts in any music scene today. CYRM is an uncompromising debut album, like a monolith looming through fog.

At sixteen songs, Eliza Carthy & Jon Boden’s “Glad Christmas Comes” is, appropriately, like a big Christmas lunch that you won’t want to finish. Beautiful music from two of our very finest and most valuable artists, it is a very easy album to love.