This self-titled EP from Anna Lena & The Orchids is full of doomy beauty; they cite influences as diverse as PJ Harvey and Grizzly Bear, but ‘See It In Black’ reminds me of Radiohead, in that its creepiness shrouds an…
Author: For Folk's Sake
Album | The Milk Carton Kids – The Ash & Clay
The Milk Carton Kids are Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale from suburban Los Angeles. They sing pretty and gentle close harmonies woven around their two vintage acoustic guitars with no further accompaniment, and they are very good at it. Pattengale…
Interview | Folk’s new wonder kid, Marika Hackman, talks literary heroes, anxiety and unexpected music production
A grey and windy day in London’s Southbank is briefly put on hold by the glowing presence of folk’s newest rising star, Marika Hackman. She’s just taken all her equipment through the Purcell Rooms artists’ entrance and quickly bounds up…
Album | Son Volt – Honky Tonk
You tend to know what you’re going to get with a Son Volt album. Jay Farrar was always the straight man in Uncle Tupelo, as evidenced by how far apart he and Jeff Tweedy now are in musical terms. Son…
Album | Dan Michaelson & The Coastguards – Blindspot
With the twang of a guitar, and that trademark voice – the sound of ice cracking as it is engulfed by warmer waters – Dan Michaelson opens his fourth album, Blindspot. From the very beginning of his debut record back…
Interview | Snow Mantled Love
Snow Mantled Love are a new three-piece from London, Ontario. They make dreamy, ‘bedroom’ pop that puts us in mind of Sea of Bees, Daughter and Meursault and we think they’re lovely. FFS connected with them across the ocean to…
Album | Steve Mason – Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time
Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time is an album that feels divided into two halves, both good in their own way. For those of us who grew up listening to the Beta Band, Steve Mason’s voice is immediately soothing. His…
EP | Bear’s Den – Agape
Agape is a theme of spiritual, Christian love explored by London-based trio Andrew Davie, Kevin Jones and Joey Haynes on their second EP released by Communion Records. Being inextricably linked with Ben Lovett it is unsurprising that Bear’s Den’s sound…
Album | Laurence Made Me Cry – The Diary of Me
In keeping with its title, Jo Whitby – aka Laurence Made Me Cry – kept an online diary of the recording of this debut album in which she at one point noted: “As each track nears finalisation, I’m beginning to…
Album | Daughter – If You Leave
The name If You Leave could suggest either anxiety or a threat, and this record’s songs explore fear in a very honest way, crawling inside the coccoons of anaemic, unready creatures, pulling them out, and putting them in the light.…