Matt Patershuk is a singer/songwriter from La Glace, Alberta, Canada. For a non-driving city dweller like myself that is immediately intriguing. Thanks to Google Earth I was able to explore the roads leading out of this hamlet of 181 inhabitants and all there is is emptiness. Fascinating!
Calexico and Iron & Wine return with their first music made together since In the Reins, the 2005 EP that brought Sam Beam, Joey Burns and John Convertino together in the first place.
On the front cover of 'Titanic Rising' multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Natalie Mering (recording under the name Weyes Blood) is seen floating in a submerged childhood bedroom which she has described as symbolic of something internal, warm and womb-like. Initially it's the warm, comforting, internal melodies which python their way around your senses, but those melodies are always underpinned by classic songwriting which really sets this album apart, and you really should listen to it as an album to appreciate the recurring lyrical and melodic themes.
Whilst 'The Canoe' is Carrie Tree’s third album of delicate, acoustic songs, she was a new name to me before the album arrived. She’s based out of Brighton, but has an acknowledged wanderlust, from which she draws inspiration and ideas on which to base her music.
Magnetic Skies formed in early 2018 when singer-songwriter Simon Kent and vocalist/programmer Jo Womar were commissioned to collaborate for a one-off arts/charity live show. Now comes their debut EP which, is a dreamy experience and the first of three EPs that the band will release in 2019.
Sad to say that I only came across The Coathangers last year with the release of their ‘Live’ album. One of those sort of live albums that blows your socks off, just like at the actual gig.
I have to admit that this is the first David Gray album that I have really listened to for many a year. ‘White Ladder’ took the world by storm beck in the late Nineties to the point where we just started to suffer from ‘White ladder’ burn out. There have been a host of albums since but, ‘Gold in a Brass Age’ is David’s first album in four years and that break seems to have been beneficial, as the new album is strong lyrically and has a warm melodic feel to keep away that late winter chill.
February 1st seems the most appropriate time of the year to release a new Mandolin Orange studio album, with its melancholic overtones, and cold wintry introspection.
Released on Wear Your Band T-shirt To Work Day, I happened to be rummaging through my T-shirts and came across the “Pleased To Meet You...... Ed Harcourt” shirt from 12 years ago.
Ed’s career over the last 15 years has most definitely not been linear. Beyond his seven album releases and various EP’s he’s busied himself the last 5 years with film scores, collaborations with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Marianne Faithfull, not to mention being the soundtrack to Burberry’s 2014 Christmas.
'Laws of Motion' is Karine Polwart's seventh album recorded on this occasion with long-term collaborators brother Steven and Inge Thompson. The multi-award wining Karine covers a variety of themes on this new release including the fear of nuclear war, child refugees, migration and the current President of the United States.
On their fifth studio album folk duo Katriona Gilmore (vocal, fiddle, mandolin) and Jamie Roberts (vocal, guitars) have composed tracks based upon events historical, contemporary and some deeply personal.
Throughout a lengthy and creative career of collaborations and as an original member of The New Pornographers 'Hell-On' is Neko Case's 6th solo album following 2013's 'The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You'. 'Hell-On' was recorded and mixed in a variety of locations and was co-produced by Neko and Bjorn Yttling of those Swedish 'Young Folks' Peter Bjorn and John.