Here we are, starting the New Year, with a batch of songs we didn’t quite manage to fit in at the end of last year. Whilst a wide selection of folk choices, none of them are overtly seasonally themed, so don’t worry about falling back into that whirlpool of a musical theme.
Let’s start with something gentle and beautiful – Wave of the Flood‘s ‘The Lover’s Of St. Kilda‘ is a love story that feels as if it comes from another age, which makes sense when one considers that the last residents of the Isle of St Kilda left 95 years ago. Lindsay Strachan, the person behind the name Wave of the Flood, explains that “this song is inspired by the real lives and legends of the people of St Kilda, those who lived in harmony with nature, in hardship and in love. After visiting a few years ago, I wanted to capture both the romance and the tragedy of a place that feels almost mythical now, despite living there until so recently.”
The recording features Kris Drever on production and guitar, with Garry Boyle (The Slate Room) on recording/mix, and Euan Burton mastering, and the accompanying visualizer uses photographs from the last years of people living on St. Kilda.
We move from Scotland to Ireland for a haunting contribution on piano and fiddle from Aoife Ní Bhriain and Cormac McCarthy. ‘Cailleach‘ is taken from the duo’s recent album “Cosán Casta“, and is a reimagining of the traditional ‘Cailleach an Airgid‘, a song they have long known – “I don’t think either of us remember a time where we did not know this song and its melody. We grew up listening to different versions of the lyrics, instrumental versions of the tune, as well as singing it in school and learning it on our instruments as a jig.” says Aoife.
We stick in Ireland for Ye Vagabonds, who are gearing up to release their fourth album, and third for Rough Trade’s River Lea label, “All Tied Together” on January 30th. The album was recorded live in a house in Galway, with producer Philip Weinrobe and focuses on songs infused with memory, tribute, and gratitude. ‘On Sitric Road‘ is the first single, and the video is a live version recorded at the Lilliput Press bookshop in Stoneybatter, Dublin.
Ye Vagabonds will play several UK dates this year with appearances at:
Jun 2 – Edinburgh, UK – La Belle Angele
Jun 3 – Aberdeen, UK – The Blue Lamp
Jun 4 – Kendal, UK – Brewery Arts Centre
Jun 5 – Manchester, UK – Academy 3
Jun 6 – Stroud, UK – Sub Rooms
Jun 7 - Totnes, UK – Civic Hall
Jun 9 – Corfe Castle, UK – Sandy Hill Arts
Jun 10 – Norwich, UK – Arts Centre
Jun 11 – London, UK – Roundhouse
It may seem that we’re heading back to the Scottish Isles since Hirta is the main island of the remote St Kilda archipelago. However, for today’s purposes, Hirta is Scottish-American multi-instrumentalist Alistair Paxton, who has just released his debut album “Soft Peaks“, which was recorded in 2025 in sessions split between the Hudson Valley town of Nyack, NY, and rural Bovina in the Western Catskill Mountains. Naturally, “Soft Peaks” is also the album from which the song ‘Book Of Ships‘ is taken. It’s a combination of understated vocals, finger-picked guitar, and enough electronic instrumentation and a hypnotic rhythm section that are able to give it a modern psych-folk feel. Really glorious.
We’re into Folk-Rock territory now with Maz O’Connor‘s take on ‘Once I Had A Sweetheart‘, which hits all the right spots musically and showcases her stunning vocals. The song is the everyday story of girl meets boy, boy goes to the wars, girl wakes up to find his ghost next to her, girl wanders around in a melancholy way, bereft forever of love. We’ve all been there. Maz has a new album, “Love It Is a Killing Thing“, which will be released on March 13th, 2026 and doubtless features more and similar stories of lost love and heartache. Can’t wait.
And finally, it’s back to Eire for a harp-driven song from Aisling Urwin, whose ‘Growing, Growing, Gone‘ is a well-observed meditation on ageing and moving on, in all the forms that may apply to. Aisling Urwin is a harper, composer, and songwriter from the South West of Ireland, who has immersed in world, folk, and traditional Irish music from an early age. She says of her new album, “The Other Place“, that “as I was writing the album, what started circling around in my head were the places and spaces the songs inhabit. They all feel like their own little worlds. The album starts quite far away, far out there in a wormhole, and by the end of the album, we’re down the end of the back garden. And there are synths and hammered dulcimers and bouzoukis and fiddles to get us from A to B.”
And that’s enough for now – except for the Classic Folk Track, which this time around comes from Steeleye Span, who will be heading out on their 55th anniversary tour in April. In respect of that, we’ll spin ‘The Blacksmith’ from 1970’s “Hark! The Village Wait“, it’s a song full of useful folk advice – you can’t trust a blacksmith even if “with his hammer in his hand he looked so clever.”
