Albums

Musically and lyrically, Every Acre is H.C. McEntire’s most complex work yet, at times impressionistic, at others painfully direct, it’s an album you need to immerse yourself in over repeated listens, but the rewards are immense.

As far as Celtic Connections international musical collaborations go, the evening concert with Mali’s Trio Da Kali and special guests was fabulously varied and richly rewarding, fully utilising the alchemic opportunities that come from bringing different music traditions and cultures together.

Dave McNally shares some highlights from the 30th Anniversary Concert that kicked off Celtic Connections 2023, featuring an astonishing breadth of talent – it was a jubilant and moving three hour celebration.

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.