Feel-good acoustic pop music, a call and response dynamic and interesting, refreshingly original lyrics – Phibian connect well, blending familiarity and a fresh sense of character, for their colourful and fearlessly honest album Pantophobia.
Acoustic
Acoustic fingerpicking, a crisp guitar sound, warm keys and deep folk-esque vocals – an atmospheric overtone but organic and ambient in the backdrop – The Bouquet Sessions capture a live sense of story and character, with Miss You.
Folk vocals that feel beautifully traditional, perhaps a twist of something Jake Bugg-like for the modern audience, and a classic folk-rock groove of acoustic guitars and hi-hats. UK singer and artist FRASER. brings thoughtful, poetic songwriting to the forefront, with the gentle embrace and rhythmic comfort of White Picket Fences.
Paired acoustic guitars, one fast-paced and rhythmic, the other meandering with a soulful sense of longing. Don Pasquale Ferone employs the bare essentials from an established musical toolkit, to deliver an organic and impassioned performance and song.
Ten original songs weave together this story of the Mystic Code, and while there’s plenty to unpack and explore conceptually, which rewards and provides insight and reflection, the music is also – and importantly – an impressive and enjoyable place to escape into for a while.
Traditional folk beauty – in poetry and melody, in fingerpicking and subtle tremolo vocals – Mikel Rafael takes listeners through the natural scenes of the world, with the three original songs of The Eternal Hour.
Instantly unique music, a songwriter with a vocal that stands out by a mile, and a poetic lyrical thread that feels refreshingly human and honest and reflective. Sten Veiths blends alt-folk contemplation and calm with bolder folk-rock to cinematic stylistics, and showcases a superb strength of songwriting, with the mighty Where The Hell I Belong.
Evocatively reflecting on the unconditional love we get from and give to our pets – the wonderful degree of joy, the memories, friendship, and the inevitable pain of losing them – Canadian songwriter Martin Gladstone crafts a timeless folk-pop ode for any and all pet-lovers, with the beautifully hopeful Over The Rainbow Bridge.
Guitarist and composer Hear The Colors – an artist with a defiantly unique approach to crafting audio soundscapes and other-worldly ventures that consume audiences – delivers a profound and powerful instrumental album this year, with the magnetic and mighty Rebirth.
Originally penned for a stage play exploring a 1960’s folk musician who falls in love with an actress, Butterskies makes note of Martin Leroux’s influences amidst James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, following the singer’s equally vulnerable and evocative voice, through a slowly evolving soundscape of subtle additional strings and peaceful summer imagery.
A breath of fresh air – organic and heartfelt, intimate and unplugged; the authentic sound of folk music and storytelling with purpose, pain, and possibility all scattered throughout its makeup. Roy’s Orb present a beautifully nostalgic, stylistically simple yet conceptually complex account of the human experience, with Phosphate.
What begins as a mellow acoustic number, soon evolves through moments of near heavy metal, progressive rock, and even electronic hard-rock. 3mind Blight is the genre, essentially, and these thoughts and creative outbursts form a melodic and enchanting tapestry of fearless revelation and vulnerability.