Albums

Now 76 and with a voice that still sounds as clear and pure as it did in 1976 when she first sang ‘Both Sides Now’, Judy Collins’ latest offering features a cast of collaborators including the likes of Glen Hansard and Bhi Bhiman who step up to join her in song.

Blow Out The Moon is a well-chosen selection of some of the less well-known traditional folk songs, presented with immaculate arrangements, precision musicianship and flawless harmonies. It makes the ideal companion to their debut album.

We join Jonathan Day on the road for a series of guest posts written during his Atlantic Drifter launch tour. We join him as he arrives in China to perform in Gangzhou and Shenzhen.

Two Universes is the latest offering from Feufollet , a young five piece band hailing from Southwest Louisiana playing a lively gumbo of Cajun, honky-tonk, classic country, rock and pop.

In part 2 of our live review of this year’s Wickham Festival we take in the Moulettes, Kathryn Tickell and The Side, Eliza Carthy and The Wayward Band, Seth Lakeman, Billy Bragg, The Hut People, Megson and more.

Both haunting and moody, Alex Roberts sixth album, The Daemon & The Eidolon, illustrates why he’s held in such esteem. It also underscores his immersion in the sound of traditional English folk-blues and prime influences of John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and almost certainly John Martyn.

The music on Cold Moon has a deceptively gentle tone that can mask the powerful lyrics and the slowly developing theme of departure. It is also a truly, remarkable album – we can only hope that Diane and Francesconi continue collaborating and make many more like it.

Gren Bartley has recorded an absorbing collection of songs awash with poetic lyrical imagery and stunning harmonies. His decision to work with a contemporary producer should broaden the appeal of an album where the magnificent creatures are the songs.

Esteesee conforms to the exceptionally high standard of presentation of Ange’s previous albums; having already, long ago and from the start, set herself such a benchmark, she simply cannot depart from it. Esteesee will doubtless also prove every bit as addictive as the opium and laudanum on which Coleridge himself dosed.

Ryan Boldt’s ‘Broadside Ballads’ is a love letter to his record collection. Now reissued, this understated and haunting album is – no more, no less – a collection of Boldt’s renditions of some of the traditional North American and British folk songs he holds so dear.

Produced by Dave Stewart, The Lake Poets is the debut release from Sunderland singer/song writer Martin Longstaff, one on which his distinctive voice and capacity for forging a strong lyric from his own experience shines through.

The latest offering from The Men They Couldn’t Hang’s powerhouse songwriting partnership of Paul Simmonds and Phil ‘Swill’ Odgers is certainly a persuasive collection and a salutary reminder of their collective talents.