Category: Album Reviews

Where is the next great Americana album going to come from? How about out of Queensland, Australia? That isn’t exactly true; Dan Parsons’ fourth album ‘Sunday Morning Cinema’ was recorded in Melbourne. But Parsons himself grew up in rural Queensland; an only child with a reel to reel 4-track and a developing talent for playing drums, pedal steel, guitar and keys. He learnt his craft well and make no mistake, this is a fine record; nine tracks and 35 minutes fully deserving of your appreciation. Continue reading “Dan Parsons “Sunday Morning Cinema”(Metropolitan Groove Merchants, 2018)”

Since releasing a couple of albums near a decade ago Swedish singer-songwriter Charlee Porter has maintained steadfast radio silence until this new four track EP. Which is a pity, as it’s an impressive outing that makes you want more, a lot more. The title track has something of the bruised yearning of Lucinda Williams, although the music is much more lush and of a straighter country ilk. The steady beat of ‘Oh Man’ follows while ‘Damn You For All The Heartache’ is as much of a beautiful old school country tearjerker as its title suggests. Things end all too soon with the upbeat, driving and deliciously hooky ‘On A Porch’. Continue reading “Charlee Porter “Ride With Me” (Spinupp, 2018)”

After some early success, David Graff turned his back on the music industry in the late 1990s and began a career as an artist. However, the urge to create new music never left him. ‘Supposed to Fly’ is Graff’s first album this century. Although he started his musical career as a drummer, Graff soon took up singing and song writing in order to satisfy his creativity. Indeed, it is his singing, full of character and experience – a distinctive storyteller’s voice, that is the most notable aspect of this new release. Continue reading “David Graff “Supposed to Fly” (Independent, 2018)”

It begins innocently enough. The sound of musicians setting up, and given the album was recorded in 24 hours, it’s an apposite scene setting. Then it starts. If you’re unfamiliar with Hinson’s voice, think of the saddest, most mournful sound you can and double it, but even with that knowledge, he’s never been as jaded and forlorn as he is here. Continue reading “Micah P. Hinson “When I Shoot At You With Arrows, I Will Shoot To Destroy You” (Full Time Hobby, 2018)”

Electric-Notes Wild is the debut album by Drew Morrison and The Darkwood. The Scottish songwriter and his combo have been the house band at Country Soul Sessions in London’s Soho for over 5 years, performing with acts such as Rotifer, Paul McClure and The Local Heroes, Matthew Edwards and The Unfortunates, Morton Valence, Bob Collum and The Welfare Mothers, Lynette Morgan and The Blackwater Valley Boys and many others. Continue reading “Drew Morrison and the Darkwood “Electric-Notes Wild” (Storm Cloud Agency Records, 2018)”

Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice, this final instalment of the former (indie-folksters) Hefner main man’s triptych focuses not only on the aforementioned villages, but also rural stories in general. As such it contains interviews, field recordings, soundscapes and original songs, running much like a radio show. Given this, it’s very much an ‘English’ folk offering and quite removed from what we might consider to be Americana. Continue reading “Darren Hayman “Thankful Villages Volume 3” (Independent, 2018)”

Since signing with Australian label Hidden Shoal Records, Colorado-based Kramies Windt has forged a critically, if not necessarily commercially successful career by drawing on his European (Dutch) background, adding this to his own Appalachian roots and teaming up with indie producer, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle. The result is a unique blend of the new world and the traditional; the medieval hipster who, through the delicate spells he weaves, creates a mellow trip to a sonic netherworld. Continue reading “Kramies (ft. Grandaddy, Guided By Voices, Train) “Of All The Places Been & Everything The End” (Hidden Shoal, 2018)”

The debut solo album from Brent Cowles, ‘How To Be Okay Alone’, follows two well-received records with his band, You, Me & Apollo. His personal narrative has included a strictly religious childhood, divorce by the age of just 19, the break-up of his band and homelessness. ‘How To Be Okay Alone’ was the question Cowles asked himself, scribbled in his notebook, following another relationship breakdown. It is a deeply personal record that covers the range of emotions from self-doubt, lonesomeness and despair to exhilarating joy. Continue reading “Brent Cowles “How To Be Okay Alone” (Dine Alone Records, 2018)”

Philadelphia’s Rosali builds upon the ethereality of her debut – 2016’s acclaimed ‘Out of Love’ – on the ghostly ‘Trouble Anyway,’ recorded and mixed by Jeff Zeigler, who has worked with The War on Drugs and Kurt Vile among others.  On her sophomore outing, Rosali enlists a group of musicians that share her love of mood and texture, including Charlie Hall (War on Drugs), Paul Sukeena (Angel Olsen), Mary Lattimore, Mike Polizze (Purling Hiss), Nathan Bowles (Steve Gunn, Black Twig Pickers), Gretchen Lohse (Carol Cleveland Sings), and Dan Provenzano (Purling Hiss, Writhing Squares). Continue reading “Rosali “Trouble Anyway” (Scissor Tail Records/Spinster Sounds, 2018)”