Albums

The music on ‘Playing for the Man at the Door – Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971’ is totally engrossing – wild wolflike blues, red in tooth and clawhammer; rawness and reality, without the spit and polish of record label recordings.

With Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning, Chief Adjuah presents a forceful, sometimes brutal, album filled with rhythms that overlap and overload the senses. Rarely have sound and heritage been so forcefully joined as on this divine ruckus of an album.

Anna Tivel’s stripped-back Outsiders (Live in a Living Room) accentuates the focus on the lyrics and illuminates the folksy nature of her music and the emotional power of her voice at its most intimate. It’s the sound of an artist at the peak of her powers.

With ‘I See A World’, the Peatbog Faeries have done it again – with infectious rhythms, sublime musicianship, a fine ear for experimentation, and a loving respect for Scots tradition, this is a rousing and breath-taking album – they sound as passionate, eager, and energised as they’ve ever been.

Iona Lane & Ranjana Ghatak’s ‘Cove’ is a beguiling and transfixing EP providing a memorable listening experience. The juxtaposition of two beautiful voices from such diverse musical backgrounds is a thing of great beauty.

‘It All Goes Up’, the sixth album by Missouri resident, Beth Bombara, is the perfect summer road trip album; the songs will carry on delivering long after the sun goes down and the miles will fly by.

At its core, William Matheny’s ‘That Grand, Old Feeling’ is an album about searching for meaning and purpose; he says, “Sometimes I feel like I’ve spent most of my life waiting for something to begin”. This deserves to be the start of something big.

Rónán Ó Snodaigh & Myles O’Reilly’s ‘The Beautiful Road’, is a calmative, a sonic balm in times of literal and metaphorical noise, but also a reminder of the verve and the life that can still exist in music. It’s an exceptional feat.

While ‘Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You’ is recognisably a Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy album, it is also a slight departure. These songs have a life-affirming quality, a willingness to exist in the present, and as a result, this is one of Will Oldham’s most rewarding albums.

The Eliza Carthy Trio’s ‘Conversations We’ve Had Before’, on which David Delarre and Saul Rose join Eliza, is “one of the best traditional folk releases of the year so far.” A digital-only release, it is to be hoped that such an enigmatic and compelling album receives the attention that it deserves.

Like a prophet in exile, Beverly Glenn-Copeland sends us messages of love, hope and resistance on ‘The Ones Ahead’, his first major album in two decades. What finer witness could we seek right now?

Seth Lakeman’s ‘The Somerset Sessions’ gets a welcome full release – a showcase for a brilliant set of musicians pouring their all into some of Lakeman’s strongest material to date.