Brandi Carlile has a firebrand of a voice. It has shades of country, pop and blues in its powerful range, a little like a female version of Ryan Adams. Her music is cut from the same cloth, a commercial take…
Mr Knopfler needs little introduction. Dire Straits were one of the biggest and best bands of the 80s, while his solo career has been far more than just a vanity project. He is of course one of the most gifted,…
Little Neon Limelight is the exuberant, boisterous and utterly American second album by Houndmouth, from New lbany, Indiana. It swaggers along, with its repeated theme of restless travel from State to State, during which we meet along the way jailbirds,…
Matthew E. White’s 2013 debut Big Inner was a cracker – a sublime work that appeared from nowhere. It encapsulated both old and new – Motown soul and pop, a touch of country, and lullaby vocals combined to produce one…
Steve Earle has covered much ground during an almost 30-year recording career and very little of it covered lightly, but this may be his first record that could genuinely be considered “fun”. That is not to say that any of…
Americana, or, to be more precise, the folk-roots of American music, has seen a resurgence over the past two or three years, and the Lone Bellow are the musical embodiment of everything that has made the genre fashionable. Big, sing-a-long…
Frontman with Joyce The Librarian, Martin Callingham steps out with a debut solo album of understated loveliness. Recorded at Bristol’s Toy Box Studios and released by Folkwit Records – and really, given our website’s name, how could we not have…
Kristin McClement arrives as a fully-formed artist with a debut album to prove it. The Wild Grips is elegant, spacious and beautifully presented. From the first notes, McClement spins the web of an expert storyteller and songwriter. And that is…
Jose Gonzalez is one of those artists you have heard before, whether you know it or not. His songs work their way into daily life and are beautiful little creatures that seem to live and breathe and take on a…
Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq surprised many pundits by winning Canada’s Polaris Prize in 2014 ahead of a number of more established names, not least the Arcade Fire. The prize is awarded for ‘artistic integrity’ and, listening to Animism, Tagaq comes…