The Tree - Lori McKenna (20/07/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: Lori McKenna

• Release Date: 20th July, 2018

• Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Country, Folk

• Record Label: Cn Records

• Tracks: 11

• Website:

Home and the people who make it have captivated Lori McKenna for years. Over the last three decades, as she became a wife and mother of five, she has also emerged as one of the most respected, prolific singer-songwriters in popular music. Her 2016 release The Bird and the Rifle netted three Grammy nominations, along with Americana Music Association nods––all firsts for McKenna as an artist. Then, she made history: In 2016, she became the first woman ever to win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year two years in a row thanks to co-writing Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” and penning Tim McGraw’s no. 1 “Humble and Kind” solo. Both songs also clinched back-to-back Grammy wins for Best Country Song. In 2017, she became the Academy of Country Music’s first female Songwriter of the Year. The Tree is her much-anticipated eleventh studio album. Produced by Dave Cobb, The Tree takes one of McKenna’s signature themes––family––and builds a tapestry of experiences she has lived and overheard, been told and dreamed up, to create a stunning ode to life’s defining relationships.

Dying Star - Ruston Kelly

• Artist: Ruston Kelly

• Release date: 7th September, 2018

• Genre: Americana, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

• Record Label: Concord Records

• Tracks: 14

• Website: https://www.rustonkelly.com

• Review By: Gary Smith (LCM)

When your wife has released one of the Grammy nominated albums of the year, it quite easy for you own debut release to be slightly overshadowed. But Ruston’s 'Dying Star’ is well worth exploring further. What really stands out for me is the cinematic storytelling and songwriting plus some great pedal steel arrangements

‘Dying Star’ is a very impressive debut from Ruston, a little-known Nashville singer-songwriter with a fine voice and a gift for pairing heavy lyrics with remarkably graceful melodies. The album is full of impressive high crafted songs. It is a lovely blend of Americana, Country and Folk.

The album has the recurring themes of love, loss, pain, substances, desperation, self-discovery and the hope for salvation. As Kacey Musgraves’ marriage to Ruston inspired the blissful cosmic country sound on ‘Golden Hour’, perhaps Ruston’s next album might explore more positive themes.

The album was co-produced by Kelly and Jarrad K (Kate Nash, Weezer) and recorded at Sonic Ranch in El Paso, TX. It includes 14 songs written/co-written by Ruston and features Ruston (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, xylophone, harmonica), Jarrad K (12-string guitar, background vocals, electric guitar, Rhodes), Tim Kelly (pedal steel), Ian Fitchuk (piano, organ, drums, percussion), Eli Beaird (bass) and Kyle Ryan (banjo) as well as background vocals from Jon Green, Natalie Hemby, Kacey Musgraves, Kate York, Abby Sevigny and Joy Williams. Of the album, Rushton comments, “A lot of my music is focused on suffering, or trying to understand the human condition through the lens of suffering…which probably sounds totally depressing, but it’s actually the flipside of that. Sometimes you’ve gotta go into that darkness—you need to get lost and then figure out for yourself how to find your way back. That’s the only way we can find pure joy, and really be thankful for the life we’ve been given.”

The album opens with the acoustic pop ‘Cover My Tracks’ followed by the lovely ‘Mockingbird’. I really like the acoustic guitar, pedal steel and harmonica interplay on this one. Classic Laurel Canyon fused with mid-tempo Country Rock, almost Neil Young meets Ryan Adams. Ruston shares, “I wrote ‘Mockingbird’ in a Dominican hotel, on the edge of a bed, at like six in the morning. I needed a release from a cyclical pattern of a doomed relationship. The kind that leaves you with less than what you went in with. It’s a story for everyone, the human condition, our connected plight in a mad world. Regardless of how it’s expressed, we all struggle through something with hope on the other side.”

The vocoder infused ‘Son of a Highway Daughter’ has echoes of Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek.” updated for the young Nashville generation. Rushton is a great storyteller and a perfect example is the reflective and sad ‘Paratrooper’s Battlecry’

The bluesy pop ‘Faceplant’ deals with the the subject substance abuse and it’s aftermath. “I’ve come too far to turn back now”. Continuing the same theme is ‘Blackout’ is a lovely mid-tempo fusion of strings, pretty harmonies and plenty of heartbreak and booze. Travelling and moving on are explored on ‘Big Brown Bus’, which sees Ruston leaving San Antonio in Texas and heading south to Mexico. I really like the song’s strong storytelling and pedal steel solo. Wonderful word play and story telling abound on ‘Mercury’ “A dying star with a junkyard heart”.

The tempo drops for the reflective and atmospheric ‘Anchors’ dealing with the end of a relationship. Lush and beautiful harmonies provided by by a female choir including Joy Williams (Civil Wars), Natalie Hemby and wife Kacey really enrich ‘Just For the Record’. ‘Trying To Let Her’ is another down tempo reflective love song about a man trying to figure out his live and relationships. ‘She is trying to love me and I’m trying to let her’.

One of my favourite songs on the album is the classy and classic ‘Jericho’. Again very reflective, personal and inward looking with a memorable hook, It finds Ruston channeling the dark minimalism of Bruce Springsteen's ‘Nebraska’ with a stark guitar-and-a-harmonica aesthetic. He uses the biblical city's ancient wall as a representation of his own isolation, but it's cut through with the harmonies of Natalie Hemby and ex-Civil Wars member Joy Williams, with whom Ruston co-wrote the tune. Together, they lift the song up, singing on the chorus, "I raised Jericho around me, but these walls are built to scale."

The title track ‘Dying Star’ drifts away on pedal steel accents and light percussion. The album closes with the rather short but perfectly formed ‘Brightly Burst Into The Air’.

The Horizon Just Laughed - Damien Jurado (04/05/18)

• Artist: Damien Jurado

• Release Date: 4th May, 2018

• Genre: Indie Folk, Singer-Songwriter

• Record Label: Secretly Canadian

• Tracks: 11

• Website:

Damien Jurado presents his new album ‘The Horizon Just Laughed’. Like previous albums, The Horizon Just Laughed started with a dream - though that's where things change, as they often do. It is Damien Jurado's first self-produced album in a 20+ year career, more personal and more rooted than even his Maraqopa trilogy, as though after so much time on the road he's stumbled upon his home. The album feels like a beautiful collage - its narrative pieced together through letters and postcards, with each part contributing to its greater whole, and providing snapshots of ones journey to find a sense of place and connection to a changing world.

Glass Heart - Mel Parsons (30/11/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: Mel Parsons

• Release Date: 30th November, 2018

• Genre:

• Record Label: Cape Road Recordings

• Tracks: 10

• Website:

‘Glass Heart’ is a bold and beautifully crafted body of work, which sees Mel Parsons revealing a darker and fuller sound, while still retaining her trademark poignant storytelling.

The album was recorded in Los Angeles with legendary American producer Mitchell Froom (Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie, Crowded House, Missy Higgins, Randy Newman, Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega) and an incredible cast of US-based musicians, including guitarist Adam Levy (Norah Jones), bass player Kaveh Rastegar (John Legend, Sia), drummer Ted Poor (Andrew Bird) and Froom on keyboards.

"I had been wanting to work with Mitchell for a few years, so when our schedules finally aligned things happened pretty quickly," says Mel. "Mitchell and I had first been in touch back about working together back in 2015, but I've admired his work for a long time - he has produced some of my favourite albums."

"You hear about how amazing these people are - and obviously by reputation you know that they're operating at a really high level - but it wasn't until we started working on the songs and got into the studio that I experienced Mitchell's quiet genius firsthand."

Mel Parsons is arguably one of New Zealand's most prolific touring acts, and is excited to be taking Glass Heart directly to her fans this December.

Evening Machines - Gregory Alan Isakov (04/10/18)

• Artist: Gregory Alan Isakov

• Release Date: 4th October, 2018

• Genre: Folk, Singer-Songwriter

• Record Label: Dualtone Music

• Tracks: 12

• Website: https://gregoryalanisakov.com

‘Evening Machines’ is the excellent new album from South African singer-songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov.

Secondhand Smoke - Sean McConnell (08/02/19)

• Artist: Sean McConnell

• Release Date: 8th February, 2019

• Genre: Country, Folk, Americana, Singer-Songwriter

• Record Label: Big Picnic Records

• Tracks: 12

• Website: https://www.seanmcconnell.com

Hush Kids - Hush Kids (26/10/18)

Artist: Hush Kids

Release Date: 26th October, 2018

Genre: Americana, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Acoustic

Record Label: Hush Kids / Tone Tree Music

Tracks: 10

Website:

Snow - Angus and Julia Stone (15/09/17)

• Artist: Angus & Julia Stone

• Release Date: 15th September, 2017

• Genre: Alt-Folk, Folk, Acoustic

• Record Label: Le Label

• Tracks: 12

• Website: http://angusandjuliastone.com

SNOW continues a process the siblings began at the suggestion of producer Rick Rubin on their self-titled album of 2014. "That was the first time that we actually started writing together, in the same room, and I guess we took a leaf from that chapter into this record. This time round though, every song on the record we wrote together" Angus says. The Sydney-born siblings produced and largely engineered it themselves, in Angus's cottage studio, Belafonte, in the Byron Bay hinterland. "It was quite magical because Angus and I have never spent that much time together, just the two of us," says Julia. "There's always at least an engineer or tour manager but the last phase of writing and recording was just eight weeks of him and me and the quiet of the land. It was a beautiful time."

Made In Streatham EP - Ferris & Sylvester (02/02/18)

• Artist: Ferris & Sylvester

• Release Date: 2nd February, 2018

• Genre: Folk, Contemporary Folk, Blues, Rock

• Record Label: Archtop Records

• Tracks: 5

• Website: http://www.ferrisandsylvester.com/

Heartbreak Songs EP - Lucy Mae Walker (02/03/18)

• Artist: Lucy Mae Walker

• Release Date: 2nd March, 2018

• Genre: Pop, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

• Record Label: Independent

• Tracks: 5

• Website: http://www.lucymaywalkerofficial.com/

Tablelands EP - India Electric Co (19/10/18)

• Artist: India Electric Co.

• Release Date: 19th October, 2018

• Genre: Folk, Contemporary Folk, Singer-Songwriter

• Record Label: Shoelay Music

• Tracks: 5

• Website: http://indiaelectricco.com/

India Electric Company present the third and final part of a series of releases focusing on the contrasting themes between the country and the city. Displacement and unification form the basis for Tablelands, along with more globalist inclinations. An exploration of their own travels and research that seeks to find musical ties that bind them with the premise that folk songs have evolved from the blending of different cultural traditions. With references including Gnawa rhythms, Norwegian folk melodies and Thomas Gray, Tablelands is a record that is built around using traditional instruments and rhythms in contemporary ways.

Words We Mean - Annie Oakley (12/10/18)

• Artist: Annie Oakley

• Release Date: 12th October, 2018

• Genre: Folk, Folk Rock

• Record Label: Clay Paste

• Tracks: 12

• Website: http://www.theannieoakley.com/index.html

Keep The Flame Alight - Martha L Healy (05/10/18)

• Artist: Martha L Healy

• Release Date: 5th October, 2018

• Genre: Folk, Singer-Songwriter

• Record Label: Frogeye Records

• Tracks: 10

• Website: https://marthalhealy.com/

Martha L. Healy returns with her new album 'Keep The Flame Alight' on the 5th October 2018. 'Keep The Flame Alight' was written and recorded in Nashville, but undoubtedly maintains a strong sense of Martha's Celtic heritage. This new album sees Martha further develop her personal songwriting voice whilst remaining true to her musical roots, which included being raised on a diet of The Eagles, The Traveling Wilburys and folk heroes, The Dubliners - staples of the Healy family vinyl collection! Through a mix of personal insight and story songs, Martha provides a fresh take on some classic themes – the need to leave somewhere to help find your place in the world, the ache of an unfulfilled love, the complexity of family and friendships and the need to live your own dreams. She also explores how being a woman in the 21st century is not without its fair share of pressures and demands.

A Problem Of Our Kind - Gilmore And Roberts (12/10/18)

• Artist: Gilmore & Roberts
• Release Date: 12th October, 2018
• Genre: Folk
• Record Label: GR Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website: https://www.gilmoreroberts.co.uk/

A Problem Of Our Kind is the fifth studio album from award-winning folk/roots duo Gilmore & Roberts – their first release since 2016's live album In Our History, which celebrated a decade of performing together. 'Most of songs on the album deal with different aspects of being human – some negative, like selfishness or materialism, and some more positive, like our sentimental side or philanthropy" explains Jamie Roberts (vocals, guitar). "Us humans are pretty complex" continues Katriona Gilmore (vocals, fiddle, mandolin). "Somehow it made us want to present these songs in quite a simple way."

Recorded at the duo's home in South Yorkshire by co-producer Ben Savage (well-known on the UK roots scene for his own acclaimed musical output with The Willows and Hannah Sanders), A Problem Of Our Kind contains some of the most stripped-back arrangements of Gilmore & Roberts' career, alongside full-tilt band numbers featuring their festival rhythm section of Fred Claridge (drums) and Matt Downer (double bass). From the heavy yet sparse groove of gutsy opening track 'Gauntlet' to the quietly insistent country-tinged heartbeat of 'Things You Left Behind' and the contemplative ebb and flow of 'On The Line', Gilmore & Roberts delve deep into the human psyche with their songs, holding their findings – good and bad, dark and beautiful - up to the light. "People and their stories have always been our main inspiration for writing songs" says Katriona with a smile. "Thankfully there are enough amazing humans to keep us going for a long time yet!"

Pre-order your copy below

The Tree Of Forgiveness - John Prine (12/04/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: John Prine
• Release Date: 12th April, 2018
• Genre: Folk, Contemporary Folk, Singer-Songwriter
• Record Label: Oh Boy Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website: https://johnprine.com/

John's wonderful new album is the first of new original material in almost 13 years. A album to be loved and savored.

Runaway - Passenger (31/08/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: Passenger

• Release Date: 31st August, 2018

• Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Folk

• Record Label: Black Crow Records

• Tracks: 10

• Website: https://passengermusic.com/

Mike Rosenberg is Passenger, the Brighton-born singer/songwriter known for busking his way to the global hit "Let Her Go", which topped the charts in 19 countries. Produced by Mike, along with longtime collaborator Chris Vallejo, his tenth studio album ‘Runaway’ is largely inspired by the North American landscape and geography, both musically and lyrically and taps into Rosenberg's family roots in New Jersey. This brings a fresh new approach and sound and speaks to the road going traveler in all of us. He explains that epic opener "Hell Or High Water," "... was the first song I wrote for this new record. It's a song about trying to get you're head around the complexities of relationships and why, ultimately, a lot of them don't work out."

Inside The Silence EP - Lauren Ray (03/08/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: Lauren Ray
• Release Date: 3rd August, 2018
• Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Contemporary Folk, Pop
• Record Label: Soft Rock Records
• Tracks: 4
• Wbsite: http://www.laurenraymusic.com

Namer Of Clouds - Kitty Macfarlane (21/09/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: Kitty Macfarlane
• Release Date: 21st September, 2018
• Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Contemporary Folk
• Record Label: Navigator Records
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.kittymacfarlane.com/

"Time and tide wait for no man," so the saying goes. But ever since her EP, Tide & Time, came out in 2016, many have been waiting expectantly to hear Somerset singer-songwriter Kitty Macfarlane's debut album. On September 21 the wait will be over as this fine young acoustic artist unveils the beguiling release 'Namer Of Clouds.' Produced by fellow musicians Sam Kelly and Jacob Stoney and released on Navigator Records, this is a captivating album.

Her sharply observed narrative songs are pure poetry, rich with visual imagery and written with an eco-eye – woven loosely together into a theme of mankind's relationship with the wild. Gathering inspiration from the sky to the seabed, Kitty's lyrics touch on intervention and rewilding, climate change and migration and one singular song which is a magical aural tapestry of woman's historical relationship with textiles and the land. The album is augmented by all kinds of 'found sound' recorded in locations from Somerset to Sardinia – birdsong, waterfalls, the click of knitting needles- and is bookended by sounds of the wild.

Recorded partly at The Cube near Truro in Cornwall and partly at Get Real Audio in Bath, 'Namer Of Clouds' features not just the clear, confident voice and finger-picked guitar of Macfarlane but also the in-demand Radio 2 Folk Awards 'Horizon' award winner Sam Kelly on guitar, mandolin and harmony vocals, with some of his talented Lost Boys band members also on the roll call –Graham Coe on cello, Archie Churchill-Moss on melodeon and Jamie Francis, surprisingly not on his trademark banjo, but on electric guitar.

Kitty was a semi-finalist in the BBC Young Folk Award. More recently she has supported Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman on tour, as well as Blair Dunlop.

Now the Bristol-based performer is coming into her own with some remarkably mature songwriting, a marked empathy with the environment and a strong sense of place. Cerebral and classy, honest and immediate, these are not throwaway lyrics or everyday melodies but thought-provoking and evocative compositions with wonderfully crafted soundscapes.

Bittersweet Revival - Faultlines (12/05/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: Faultlines
• Release Date: 12th May, 2018
• Genre: Contemporary Folk, Folk, Pop
• Record Label: Independent
• Tracks: 
• Website: http://www.faultlinesofficial.com

For Everything A Season - Gitta De Ridder (23/03/18)

View fullsize

• Artist: Gitta de Ridder
• Release Date:
• Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Contemporary Folk, Pop
• Record Label: Little Moments Records
• Tracks: 12 (+1 bonus track on deluxe ed)
• Website:

'For Everything A Season is a collection of four seasonal EPs, that stand as a metaphor for the cycles we move through in life. A release of quality and depth from the Anglo-Dutch singer and songwriter, this is her second release following her well received debut 'Feathers' in 2016. Best described as high-quality alt-folk, with lyrical and musical complexity, de Ridder has a gift for a memorable hook, and a pop sensibility infuses the work. A deluxe box set containing 4 CDs in wallet with fold out page lyric booklet/mini poster.