Diverse, innovative with plenty of surprises, Extralife is an engrossing album and a fulfilling listen that feels like it was truly made for the sake of music. For the devout fan of indie folk, Darlingside has found an engrossing niche.
Way Out I’ll Wander, the latest offering from Hannah Read, is a fine achievement: listening to each of its songs is like watching the snow settle in an exquisitely crafted snow globe, revealing an image of pristine clarity.
There are big projects, there are gargantuan labours of love, and then there is this. The Self Preservation Society is an ambitious vinyl collection of songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s performed by the likes Eliza Carthy, Teddy Thompson, Marry Waterson and many others.
New albums from Beth Nielsen Chapman seem few and far between, but when they do arrive they’re solid gold. Hearts Of Glass is no exception. Her decision to bring in Sam Ashworth as producer has fostered a new setting for her music, one that offers her engaging lyrics room to breathe.
John Oates began his career as a folk/blues musician in Philadelphia in the 1960’s, before turning to the “blue-eyed soul” sound that defined Hall and Oates. Arkansas finds him returning to his roots with a special focus on his hero, Mississippi John Hurt.
There’s far more to Undersong than the time Salt House spent recording on the tiny Hebridean island of Berensay, with seasoned producer Andy Bell. Undersong is a highly accomplished album of wonderful music, that singles Salt House out as a trio of exceptional talent.
What Sam Carter and Jim Moray have created with Harmonograph is fittingly detailed, truly collaborative, varied and often beautiful. It is the work of two modern masters in perfect harmony. In the world of folk and roots music, collaborations don’t get much bigger and better than this.
We Are The Wildlife, the solo debut of Brona McVittie whose name has been cropping up more and more frequently in the more expansive and experimental subsets of the folk music world. This is one of the most distinctive debuts you are likely to hear all year.
The most arresting and impressive aspects of Sanctuary are not the message and the direction the music is coming from – it’s the music itself. The writing and musicianship shine in what is easily Ross Ainslie’s most impressive album so far.
Avenging & Bright, a crossover between folk, pop and electronica, is bursting with confidence, and rightly so. Once again Damien O’Kane has recorded an album so highly polished it shines, it dazzles. Read our review and watch his new video for Poor Stranger.
Providing more energy than a tanker full of Lucozade, 25 years on the Peatbog Faeries sound every bit as fresh and, above all, enthusiastic as they did when they headed out from Skye all those years ago. Live@25 is an exceptional live album by an exceptional live band.
On ‘Singing Ways to Feel More Junior’, Luke Daniels delivers yet another highly innovative collection. An album that is full of fascinating and meticulously crafted song from an artist with his finger on the pulse. Out Now on Gael Music.
