Albums

With ‘Prize’, Rozi Plain lyrically reinvents the mundane and presents it as philosophical rhetoric. While the silky melodies and relaxed, walking-paced rhythms which define her music are very much present throughout this album, moments build into a groovy, excited triumph – it is brilliance.

Lauren Oxford’s wondrous eponymous debut somehow evaded my keen radar at the time of release. It would’ve effortlessly landed in my 2022 Top 10 if I’d heard it before then.

The Old Man and the C Chord is a terrific collection from Chris Coole, a Canadian clawhammer banjo player and member of The Lonesome Ace Stringband.

Serious Glimmers is the latest offering from Bristol-based guitarist Glenn Kimpton. He is never afraid to navigate the more complex waters of experimentalism and improvisation; often complex and always highly rewarding, it is the perfect introduction to his art.

Kelly Bayfield’s ‘Wave Machine’ is a profoundly personal album on which she shares her heart, hopes and grief. It features a number of special guests including Phil Beer, Beth Porter, and the late Paul Sartin.

An unintended concept album, Ben Bedford’s ‘Valley of Stars’ is a magical musical folk tale – an ambitious, intricate and hypnotic conjuring of a psyche seeking to self-repair, one that needs to be heard in one sitting from start to end to gather the full effect and the final catharsis it brings.

In part inspired by Sorley MacLean’s poem ‘An Cuilithionn / The Cuillin’, Duncan Chisholm’s “Black Cuillin” is, by any measure, an extraordinary achievement, a complete joy and a deeply immersive experience.

While The Great White Sea Eagle shares much with James Yorkston’s previous album, it somehow manages to hit harder on an emotional and visceral level. A new Yorkston album is always a bracing experience, this one more so than most.

For his solo release ‘While You Were Slumbering’, Joseph Decosimo plays to his strengths, crafting a magical tapestry of old time songs and instrumentals with minimal but effective embellishments from a host of guest players, including Alice Gerrard.

Dear Friend is one of The Bombadils’ more laid-back and wistful albums, a tender and quietly beguiling affirmation of love, friendship and human contact across the years and the miles.

Exploring the dance forms of England and Western Europe, Nat Brookes’ ‘Cormorant’ is an engaging and deeply immersive offering. Brookes has found notes that resonate with the heart and soul, providing an entryway into tunes that serve both the mind and the dancefloor.

Although her words are incredibly poetic and powerful on their own, just as poetry should be read allowed to fully grasp its intent, it’s the immeasurably emotive way that Moriah Bailey delivers her lines on ‘i tried words ‘ that portrays their true meaning.