For all its range and variation, for all the subtle and beautiful musical flourishes and lingering sonic effects, The Victorians is essentially a call to arms. Harp & a Monkey have made a stunning album that pleads the case for folk song as a working-class mode of expression.
Creating music is indisputably in Edd Donovan’s blood, these songs have solid foundations and were simply waiting for someone with a visionary radar to bring them into the world. An album for people with a taste for beauty, adventure, nature and wonder.
Smith & McClennan have triumphed on this debut release, in creating personal music that tells us more about who they are than we’ve ever heard before and suggests they’re only at the beginning of a fruitful musical adventure.
The Portage, the latest album from Scotland’s Rant is something truly special. At points haunting, at others carefree and light, this is powerful and evocative music that is invigorating, bewitching and beautiful.
An album full of human warmth, but also tinged with wildness. This is the sign of a master musician at work, and Hay certainly fits that description. It is only two years since his debut and he is already one of the finest guitarists of his generation.
Rose in June is an endlessly varied and accomplished album that sees the Remnant Kings at the top of their game and shows just why Jon Boden is one of the most lauded folk musicians this century.
Catherine Rudie’s ability to create vivid moods from often sparse ingredients is a rare gift – she can make you feel as if you inhabit the dream-spaces of these songs, and then return you to the real world with a bump.
As The Son Of Town Hall, Ben Parker and David Berkeley have created an album that plays like nothing else you will hear this year. Equal parts care and craftsmanship, joy and sorrow, it is a splendour to behold. As a bonus, watch their video for their new single The Line Between.
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett have created an album that is seductively dreamlike but sometimes sad, layered like a palimpsest but accessible on every one of those layers. It is unlikely you will hear a better instrumental album this year.
Band of Burns share much more with the bard than just their title. Their gift is deep-seated and The Thread stands as a remarkable tribute. The Burns clan grows larger still.
Luke Daniels’ “Old Friends & Exhausted Enemies” is full of mystery and emotion. It is the work of a discerning reader, a remarkable songwriter, and a musician with the touch of an alchemist.
Hannah James has created an album that explores life from countless angles. It is sad, fun, wise, angry and thought-provoking in equal measure and it has a real flair for the dramatic. She has established herself as a highly individual and almost unparalleled songwriter.
