Reviews Search | Songlines

Reviews

Review of Swilkie

Swilkie

Iona Lane

Iona Lane

Rating: ★★

The Swilkie is a dangerous whirlpool between Orkney and the Scottish mainland. It’s where, according to Icelandic legend, the salt...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: July/2025

Review of Wahala Wahala

Wahala Wahala

KOG & the Zongo Brigade

Heavenly Sweetness

Rating: ★★★★

Wahala means ‘Problem’ or ‘Trouble’, but I had no problem enjoying this album. It is high-energy and punchy, as you'd...

Reviewed by Charlotte Algar in issue: May/2019

Review of Anamkhara

Anamkhara

Kelly Thoma

Seistron

Rating: ★★★★

Piraeus-born Cretan lyra player Kelly Thoma is a pupil of Ross Daly and a part of the diverse group of...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: Apr/May/2011

Review of Songhive: Beelore & Folksong in the British Isles

Songhive: Beelore & Folksong in the British Isles

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Songhive

Rating: ★★★★

Folk music often has a special relationship with the native flora and fauna of the land from which it springs....

Reviewed by Nathaniel Handy in issue: October/2018

Review of Silent Voices

Silent Voices

Ayla Schafer

Nixi Music

Rating: ★★★

Singer-songwriter Ayla Schafer plays spellbinding folk music infused with Latin mystique. Her captivating new album carries a profound message of...

Reviewed by Dan Hobson in issue: March/2021

Review of Prisoner

Prisoner

Lucky Dube

Shanachie Entertainment

Rating: ★★★★★

There have been many fine reggae artists to come out of Africa since Bob Marley played in Zimbabwe in 1980...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: January/2025

Review of Counterclockwise

Counterclockwise

Faun Fables

Drag City Records

Rating: ★★★★

Long-running Californian folkers Dawn McCarthy and Nils Frykdahl have delivered an epic and ambitious slice of weird Wicca folk with...

Reviewed by Glenn Kimpton in issue: August/2025

Review of OVA

OVA

Afro Celt Sound System

Top of the World

Six Degrees Records

Rating: ★★★★★

This is a bittersweet triumph from one of the world’s finest fusion bands. The Afro Celts were founded by Simon...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: December/2024

Review of Loudon Live in London

Loudon Live in London

Loudon Wainwright III

The Last Music Company

Rating: ★★★

An excellent overview of the six-decade-long career of one of America’s preeminent (and funniest) troubadours. Recorded during a three-night stand...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: April/2025

Review of KWEChE

KWEChE

Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno

Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno

Rating: ★★

The nyatiti is an eight-stringed plucked lyre of the Luo people in Kenya. Played in a fast and rhythmic way,...

Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: December/2021

Subscribe from only £7.50

Start your journey and discover the very best music from around the world.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Songlines magazine.

Find out more