Albums

Archangel Hill is Shirley Collins’s third album since returning to the studio half a decade ago; this album and its two predecessors seem almost to relish their maturity and at 87, she continues to create some of the most exceptional music of her career.

With voice, lyrics and melodies, the songs on ‘Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing’ will draw you into its embrace. A totally captivating album that’s sure to bring Valazza the larger audience she deserves.

While it’s been a long hibernation, ‘Wish You Were Here’ finds Terry Emm in top form; it’s good to welcome him back into the warmth of the sun.

The Declining Winter is an integral, if obscure, feature of the British musical landscape, like a stone circle hidden behind a housing estate and Adams’ latest offering, Really Early, Really Late, is an engrossing, sometimes playful, frequently pensive, and never less than captivating album.

Gareth Thompson reflects on Mike Gangloff’s well-attended gig at the Golden Lion…Gangloff ends by saying, “A set of creaky old fiddle tunes ain’t the easiest gig to sell,” but the success of his latest touring venture would rather suggest it is.

The music across the twelve tracks of Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay is diverse and dynamic, ebbing and flowing like a river, evoking nature and the outdoors wonderfully. Assured in its composition and immaculate in its execution, this one is a must.

Featuring three of Chicago’s biggest hitters – Douglas McCombs, Bill MacKay & Charles Rumback – Black Duck is a dynamic, experimental set of instrumentals that oozes the kind of confidence you would hope for from such a power trio.

‘Hold. Star. Return’ finds David A. Jaycock exploring more fully the world of antique electronica. A fuzzy, off-kilter melodicism pervades much of this weirdly beautiful album, which manages to be constantly aware of the past and yet never sentimental.

With Spirits, The Circling Sun have managed to produce an album which succeeds in paying due respect to the African American greats of jazz whilst simultaneously imbuing their compositions with a passionate South Pacific empathy and insight.

L Con’s “The Isolator” is an adventurous foray into self-interrogation and within the album, there are some very honest, relatable, and rare statements that are, perhaps more than anything, the mark of a great artist.

Produced by his son Tucker Martine and joined by guests that include Peter Buck, Bill Frisell, Laura Veirs, k.d. lang and Karl Blau. Music Man clearly demonstrates that the 81-year-old veteran Nashville-based songwriter Layng Martine Jr can sing them as well as write them.

The true narrative of the Ruen Brothers’ ‘Ten Paces’ is filled with ‘Wanted’ posters, wagon trains, big-city angst, dreams and despair – all given life by these bold songs, tailor-made to seize the airwaves from Scunthorpe’s steel mills to Dakota’s dusty border.