Tag: folk

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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

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Tomberlin – Wasted

Tomberlin’s 2018 debut album At Weddings is without doubt one of my favourite of the last few years, and one I go back to on a pretty much weekly basis. It’s stripped down, fairly mournful folk: utterly beautiful and almost unbearably sad in parts. By contrast, her latest single is positively upbeat, at least in its buoyant rhythm and big, open melodies. But lyrically there’s still that same sense of melancholy that makes her work so personal and unique: “I try to write it out / Make sure nothing sounds weird / Make sure it’s not half bad / Do you think this songs sad?” The answer? Yes, a little, and I’m very much looking forward to the new EP Projections which is due out 16 October via Saddle Creek. 

https://tomberlin.bandcamp.com/

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Sufjan Stevens – America

A new 12 minute song from Sufjan, and the lead single from his forthcoming album. There’s really very little more I need to say about this, other than it seems to be the culmination of almost everything he’s done in his career so far, with elements of folk, noise and electronica vying for space amongst lyrical themes both religious and nationalistic. If this is illustrative of the album, we’re in for a real treat come 25 September.

https://sufjan.com

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Johanna Warren – Hole In The Wall

Beautifully simple and delicate folky americana from Johanna Warren, taken from her new album Chaotic God, which I’ve found incredibly soothing this morning. And if you like this, I’d highly recommend checking out Tomberlin’s album At Weddings from a couple of years ago, which is absolutely brilliant and has similar vibes, both vocally and in the instrumentation.

https://www.johannawarren.com/

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Corrina Repp – Afloat

Afloat came out in 2006 on Corrina Repp’s album The Absent and the Distant, and is a record I come back to all the time. It’s one of the most heartbreaking, delicate, beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. The piano line that trickles in halfway through is completely inspired, and the whole thing is drenched in a kind of washed out melancholia that is just perfect. Two and a half minutes of sheer, choking bliss.

https://corrinarepp.bandcamp.com/

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Midwife – Language

As Midwife, Madeline Johnston plays what she describes as “Heaven Metal,” or “emotive music about devastation”. In other words it’s very low-key and gloomy, but in beautifully uplifting way. This is taken from her new album Forever which is definitely worth checking out, especially if you want to gaze out of a window and Think A Lot About Sad Things for a while. Also has a touch of early Sufjan in the vocal delivery and atmospherics, which is never a bad thing.

https://midwifemusic.com/

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Keeley Forsyth – Debris

This came out back in October as the lead single from Keeley Forsyth’s debut album Debris, but I’ve only just heard it. Her voice is incredible, kinda like a female Nick Cave, portentous and anguished. Brief, but very powerful.

www.keeleyforsyth.com

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Nina Kinert feat. Linnea Olsson – Lonely Cloud

Kicking this off with one of my favourite records from the last couple of years. Definitely should have got way more attention that it did. Just amazingly beautiful.

www.ninakinert.com