Singer-songwriter Joe Wilkes has announced the release of his latest album “Hope In My Chest, Fire in My Heart” via Frontline Records on 27th February 2026. Wilkes new record is intended as both a tribute to the folk tradition and a challenge to its conventions. Recorded in the shadow of illness and upheaval, the album is described as “less a curated folk anthology than a lived-in document of survival. A charged collection of traditional songs and original compositions that reflect the artist’s turbulent journey through, bereavement, disease, addiction and existential reflection”.
The recording was interrupted many times. On one occasion, Wilkes had occupied an arms factory, crashed through a roof, breaking his back and legs. The recovery was long. The songs stayed unfinished. While recovering from his injuries, he developed a rare and aggressive fibrotic condition in his hands, causing his fingers to contract painfully. It felt like the recording was cursed. Predictably the drinking increased and took the place of music. Eventually having undergone surgery and having quit the drink, eleven songs came out.
The album was record and mixed by Wilkes himself with mastering by Wayne Proctor. Wilkes plays guitar and harmonium with support from Antoine Reininger (Double Bass), Duncan Menzies (Fiddle), Shem Fillmore (Sarangi) ,John O’Neill (Flute), Steve Forbes (Backing Vocals), Barbara Bartz (Violin and Charlotte Sometimes with whom he duets on album closer ‘The Carpenter’
Several of the tracks on the record have been released already. You can see the video for one of them ‘Hard Times Of Old England‘ right here.
