This month sees new albums from German, Swiss and Norwegian artists, along with singles from France, Iceland and Denmark!
Hi, and welcome to Vox Continental for the month of February, which has largely been maked by a lot of rain throughout mainland Europe! But we don’t let that dampen our spirits, and we have the usual eclectic offering of music from quite a smörgåsbord of neighbouring countries. Let’s dive in.
The Green Apple Sea are a German band, hailing from Nuremberg, where they were formed back in 1998. The band consists of singer Stefan Prange along with Christian Ebert (keys), Lena Dobler (vocals), Frieder Graef (bass), Flo Kenner (guitar) and Frank Schwab (drums). “Dark Kid” was released last week (20th February) and it’s eight years since their last album release (2018’s “Directions“), so this new album, their seventh to date, has been eagerly awaited.
The Green Apple Sea were early adopters of americana in Germany and their songs have a gentle and drifting quality that seems to reflect aspects of the German countryside. The new album is written around Stefan Prange’s reflections on his own childhood and has a melancholy air without sounding depressing or negative. This is an album that should have wider appeal than some of their earlier work and should help the band to find a larger audience outside their own country. They have a Facebook page, if you want to find out more about the band.
Photo: Jules Vandales
Special Friend are a Paris-based French/American duo, Erica Ashleson and Guillaume Siracusa, who got together after meeting at a concert in the city. “Clipping“, their third album since forming in 2018, will be out on the 20th March. Special Friend are not Americana in the strictest sense, but we hear elements of Belle & Sebastian in their music, a band who have appeared on these pages a few times, and we like bands that push the envelope a little. UK audiences will be able to decide for themselves where they think the music lies, as the duo start a reasonably lengthy tour there on the 4th March, in Brighton, running through to the conclusion in Swansea on the 15th of the same month. Details of all venues can be found on the band’s Facebook page.
One of the things we love about European americana is the eclectic nature of the combinations it throws up. Anyone for a Mexican singer-songwriter based in Reykjavík?! Andervel is the musical project of José Luis Anderson, and his debut album, “Ironclad & Palm Trees” will be released on the 1st of May. In the meantime, we have the lead single ‘Foxglove‘. Released earlier this month, it is a beautiful, ethereal song named after the hardy, wind-tossed flower that thrives across Icelandic landscapes, and the track is a reflection on resilience during moments of transition. It was written during a period of anxiety, as Anderson and his partner faced the long descent into the colder and darker months, and the song was inspired by the seemingly fragile flower that survives against the harsh weather of an Icelandic winter. It really is a beautiful song and a perfect teaser for the multilingual album recording, full of songs which have been shaped by migration, memory and the meeting of two homelands.
A far cry from ethereal we have “Goose Bumps“, a new solo album from Swiss Rockabilly musician Emanuela Hutter, lead singer of Hillbilly Moon Explosion. The album was released at the beginning of the month and the first single from the album is ‘Everybody’s Valentine‘, written by American roots rocker, J.D McPherson and produced by Jimmy Sutton, who has also produced McPherson and Pokey LaFarge. This is only Hutter’s second solo release in 25 years of fronting the popular band and, while not a major departure from Hillbilly Moon Explosion’s sound, it does allow her distinctive vocals to stand out a little more. You can find out more about Emanuela at her website.
Can we have a Vox Continental column without a new release from Norway’s Die With Your Boots On Records?! It seems unlikely, and this month sees the release of the much anticipated debut album from country rockers Norma. “Country Catering” was released on the 20th of this month and aficionados of vintage country rock will hear echoes of the likes of the Grateful Dead, Poco and even the Eagles in the music of this fine band. The band’s debut EP was nominated for the Spellemann award (Norwegian Grammys) in the country category, and they took home the Fjording award for best newcomer. The band come from Halden, often referred to as Norway’s Mississippi, because of its position at the mouth of the Tista river and being the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden, and the band do dish up a fine selection of southern fried sounds even if, technically, they’re a Nordic band, as our selection ‘Rabbit Feet‘, the opening track on the album, shows.
Danish musician He Is Tall recently completed his debut UK tour alongside the release of a new single ‘Which Way? Which Way?‘. Unfortunately, the news reached Vox Continental between our monthly publishing dates (the column goes out on the last Thursday of the month – artists take note) and the four date tour, which took in gigs in Stockport, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leeds has already concluded, However, the tour seeems to have been quite a success and we’re sure this artist will find his way back to the UK before too long. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the current single in our clips below.
Staying in Denmark we have a live single from award-winning roots-rockers Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado and their release of ‘Said I Was Hurt’, recorded on 29 November 2025 at Hotel Cecil in Copenhagen, Denmark; one of the band’s final shows on their ‘House of Sticks’ winter tour. It’s a fine piece of country soul/blues and shows what an excellent live band this is, though that’s hardly surprising as they seem to tour almost constantly and are currently on a string of Northern European dates that extend through the rest of the year! Full details are available on their website.
On the subject of touring, we have news that the outstanding West Virginia-born Sierra Ferrell has a handful of European dates on her recently announced Heavy Petal Tour, which runs from May to October of this year. Sierra Ferrell is a true original whose always interesting music incorporates elements of folk, bluegrass, gypsy jazz, and even calypso, and European appearances are rare, so you may not want to miss this one. Her European concerts are in June and July, and the dates are as follows –
June 29th – Paris, FR – Le Trianon
June 30th – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
July 1st – Hamburg, DE – Gruenspan
July 3rd – Roskilde, DK – Roskilde Festival
July 4th – Beuningen, ND – Down The Rabbit Hole
July 5th – Werchter, BE – Rock Werchter
Full details and ticket availability can be found at the artist’s website.
Finally, before we say au revoir for this month, we have exciting news about one of our favourite Italian bands and big friends of this column. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all we can say at this stage, but watch out for some big news from that great Alt. Country band Satellite Inn. 2026 will be a big year for Stiv Cantarelli and his bandmates.
That’s it for this month, we’ll be back in March with a new roundup of what’s happening in americana in continental Europe. And remember – If you are an americana-influenced artist operating out of mainland Europe and have new music or a tour to promote, let me know. Contact information is on the webzine page under ‘Info’. This column is published on the last Thursday of every month throughout the year.
