Albums

Jack Sharp, in his “post apocalyptic downer folk-rock” side project Large Plants, explores the natural world and his inner thoughts on his prickly sophomore release, The Thorn.

Our Man in the Field’s ‘Gold on the Horizon’ is a ruminative album, steeped in empathetic humanity but also veined with doubts in its contemplation of life. It’s an album to immerse yourself in.

At the confluence of light and dark, Spell Songs’ ‘Gifts of Light’ is characterised by an uplifting vitality which soothes the soul, demonstrating the magic that results from combining live music with art and literature and representing collaborative music-making at its very finest.

We get an insight into the highly anticipated, revamped theatrical production of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown, which is set to open at the Lyric Theatre in February 2024, five years after its sold-out run at the National Theatre.

Muireann Bradley is a new Celtic soul sister, and with ‘I Kept These Old Blues’, she swings the blues back from the margins. More vitally, she could inspire a fresh generation to investigate the genre.

Harry’s Seagull shows how old songs sung with affection and skill can sparkle like new. Georgia Shackleton’s solo debut is light as a gull’s feather but flush with ideas: it’s one of the freshest and most appealing folk albums of the year.

The alchemy found on ‘hare // hunter // moth // ghost’ is masterful; Kerry Andrew can turn small, rough or difficult things into moments of bright wonder. In You Are Wolf’s hands, transformation is a gift to be celebrated.

It’s often said that lullabies exist in a liminal space, on the ill-defined boundaries between sleep and wakefulness. On this fine album, Abigail Lapell continues to push her own musical boundaries.

Eclectic and electric in equal measure, Dori Freeman’s ‘Do You Recall’ finds her reaffirming her Appalachian roots and looking beyond them, touching on old traditions and creating her own as her star continues to rise.

‘Thea Gilmore’ is an album shaped by personal upheaval, self-reinvention, uncompromising determination and triumphant, empowered rebirth. Like a beacon, it leads the way out of the darkness.

Following Show of Hands’ ‘indefinite break’ announcement, Roots 2, an exemplary best-of collection, looks back at their last 16 years, an incredibly fruitful period shaped by exploration and collaboration.

Carried in Sound is an emotionally evocative album textured musically, vocally and lyrically with shadows and light, like a comforting flickering candle in the depth of darkness and storms; it’s easily the best thing that the Smoke Fairies have ever done.