Tag: folk

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The Green Child – Low Desk : High Shelf

Here comes another entry in the “things I completely missed in 2020 but probably shouldn’t have done” canon, this time courtesy of Raven Mahon and Mikey Young aka The Green Child. Low Desk:High Shelf is taken from their second album Shimmering Basset, the recording and themes of which deal with Raven’s relocation to Australia from California. A week ago I would have casually mentioned that the lo-fi, almost naively wonderful electronic opening reminds me of some of John Maus’s best work, but as it turns out even niche musical heroes of mine can trash their own legacy in a single swoop. So instead I’ll say it’s a brilliant, yearning, melancholic, hopeful slice of electronic folk-pop, and leave it at that.

https://thegreenchild.bandcamp.com

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Sea Oleena – Lost Song

There’s been a gap of six years between Shallow – the last Sea Oleena LP – and Weaving A Basket, which was released last month. So long in fact that I’d forgotten just how brilliant an artist she is. Weaving A Basket, though, may be a late entry for album of the year: it’s certainly one of the most beautiful, with vocals acting like ambient textures rather than narrative or rhythmic devices, often accompanied by little more than a mournfully strummed guitar. It’s honestly hard to describe just how lovely this album is, so probably best just to go and listen to it.

https://seaoleena.bandcamp.com

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Nathalie Stern – Ember Child

Nathalie Stern is a Swedish artist now based in Newcastle who served her apprenticeship in guitar-based bands such as Candysuck and Lake Me, before looking to traditional Swedish folk roots and more experimental sounds for her debut solo album Firetales in 2010. Nearly a decade later she released the incredible Nerves & Skin, from which Ember Child is taken: a stripped-down, haunting, electronic-folk ballad consisting of little more than single, lengthy notes and a handful of chords on an especially morose synth and her wonderful vocal. It’s about as minimalist a composition as you’re likely to hear, and one of the most impactful.

https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/nerves-and-skin

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Me Lost Me – Nevergreen

Me Lost Me is the music project of Newcastle based musician Jayne Dent, and Nevergreen came out a few months ago as one of the singles from her latest album, The Good Noise, which was released last week. The entire album is brilliant, and ranges from meandering, folky ballads to soaring, ethereal pop, many of which are pinned together with crisp and precise drum programming. Nevergreen itself is a beguiling mix of all of these elements and more: something you could easily imagine soundtracking a hallucinatory scene in whatever mind-bending film Ari Aster currently has in the works.

https://www.melostme.com/

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This Is The Kit – Was Magician

On a blazing hot Sunday afternoon last June I watched This Is The Kit perform on Glastonbury’s West Holts stage, and it was absolutely magnificent: exactly the kind of relaxed yet quietly invigorating vibe I was looking for, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Was Magician is the latest in a run of singles from her forthcoming album Off Off On which is out later this month, and is delicate, sparse and very lovely indeed.

https://thisisthekit.co.uk

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Orions Belte feat. Shikoswe – Conversations

This is the latest single from Norwegian trio Orions Belte, a band supposedly inspired by “Nigerian 70’s rock, postcards from the French Riviera and Formula 1” and while I’m not an authority on either Nigerian rock or Formula 1, the breezy, heady melodies of Conversations absolutely call to mind sitting on a warm beach gazing out at the gentle swells of the Mediterranean. It’s an intoxicating blend, easily accessible yet with enough of a punch to stay with you for some time afterwards.

http://www.orionsbelte.no/

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Kurt Vile – Dandelions

Dandelions is one of two Kurt Vile originals on his new five-track EP Speed, Sound, Lonely KV (ep), which also includes three covers: one of Jack Clement and two of US country legend John Prine who passed away earlier this year. From the opening, carefully picked acoustic melody and dreamy background washes to the hushed, muted percussion, this is vintage stuff from an artist who has that rare talent of being simultaneously rousing and reassuring. “That sounded pretty sick” says Vile as the music gradually fades away. I couldn’t agree more.

https://kurtvile.com

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Loma – Don’t Shy Away

Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski and Jonathan Meiburg formed Loma in 2016 when they met on tour. They released their debut self-titled LP back in 2018, which I became mildly obsessed with for a while, especially the majestically sad I Don’t Want Children. Don’t Shy Away is the latest single from their forthcoming sophomore album – also called Don’t Shy Away – and it’s completely brilliant. Breathy, ethereal vocals and a gently strumming guitar that gradually build, fade, build again to a restrained, devastating denouement.

https://lomamusic.bandcamp.com

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Anjimile – In Your Eyes

Records like this are the exact reason I wanted to start this blog: an artist I had never previously heard of, making absolutely incredible music that – so far at least – isn’t quite the attention it deserves. Anjimile Chithambo wrote much of the album from which In Your Eyes is taken while in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, while also “living more fully as a nonbinary trans person”. The press release goes on to make Sufjan Stevens comparisons, which is usually pretty dangerous ground on which to tread, but in this case is absolutely on-point, and there are also echoes of Tracy Chapman in much of Giver Taker, both vocally and in the quiet rage that underpins some of the songs.

There are so many moment of brilliance in the album, but In Your Eyes gets my particular stamp of approval for being one of the best songs I’ve heard all year.

https://anjimile.bandcamp.com

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Lomelda – Hannah Sun

Hannah Sun is one of three tracks on the new Lomelda album – also titled Hannah – that are named after their creator, Hannah Reid. “It felt important to call it Hannah because it attached me and my person and my responsibility to the music” she said in a recent interview. Even without this exposition, there could be little doubt that these are deeply personal. intimate songs, and Hannah Sun drifts and shimmers like the last sunbeams of the day gently breaking through a canopy of softly shifting leaves.

https://lomelda.bandcamp.com/album/hannah