VRÏ’s ‘islais a genir’ is an album that honours variety and positively revels in its own complex, colourful identity, by turns thoughtful and celebratory. A formidable artistic and cultural statement.
With Sorrows Away, The Unthanks have graced us with their most extraordinary record to date. It is a tonic to lift the spirits and marks a momentous moment in the career of one of the greatest folk bands in the UK today.
We talk to Jake Blount, our current Artist of the Month, about his new album ‘The New Faith’, working with Smithsonian Folkways, the impact of climate change, the ethos of folk music and more.
Saltlines is a massive, ambitious and highly unusual project; the fact that it feels perfectly judged at every moment is down to the sheer excellence of Gigspanner Big Band’s musicianship and the touching, clear-eyed nature of everything Raynor Winn writes or speaks. It is a constant delight.
‘The Space Between’ is the sound of a band that are cooking on heat; anyone who comes into the Bonfire Radicals’ orbit is going to be hard pushed not to be swept up by this blazing folk comet.
Jake Blount’s The New Faith is an album rich with themes of hope, resilience and salvation. With a keen sense of tradition, Blount has cleverly delivered a bold, thought-provoking and judicious album…one which is also a thoroughly, staggeringly thrilling listen. Glorious.
Featuring Colm O’Connell and Rory McDaid, Rezo’s latest album ‘Sew Change’, shows that this duo are still at the forefront of presenting fresh and creative collages of sound. This is what great music is capable of being.
We catch up with Luke Daniels to chat about The Cobhers, a project started in 2019 to help bring new audiences to folk and traditional music through covering classic hits alongside folk and traditional tunes from the UK, Ireland and beyond.
Featuring Sarah-Jane Summers, Juhani Silvola, Leif Ottosson and Bridget Marsden, the Siskin Quartet’s ‘Flight Paths’ is an exceptional album. Broad-reaching yet balanced, daring and compelling; I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Everything on this collection from Luke Daniels and The Cobhers is attacked with such life-affirming urgency… These are songs that have cut across the eras, the sub-cultures and age restrictions, and now, they are hoping to knock down genre fences as well.
With LAS, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Ross Ainslie and Steven Byrnes have delivered a highly accomplished album that, probably more than any other you’ll hear this year, unifies innovation and tradition.
We chat with Hannah and Gabriel of Fritillaries, our Artists of the Month, about their self-titled debut album, how they met, their influences, Bristol folk scene, band names and more.
