Reviews

Sing Yonder 2

VARIOUS ARTISTS | Various Artists

Following 2023’s excellent debut collection, Sing Yonder 2 presents a second superb collection of songs (11–20) from the Roud Index,...

Reviewed in issue July/2025

Forefowk, Mind Me

Quinie

Scots is one of three official languages north of the border, along with English and Gaelic, and it is in...

Reviewed in issue July/2025

Maa palaa

Päivi Hirvonen

This is renowned Finnish singer, fiddle player and jouhikko (bowed lyre) virtuoso Päivi Hirvonen’s third solo album away from the...

Reviewed in issue July/2025

Turnstone

Gigspanner Big Band

A turnstone is a wading bird that upends pebbles to feed on what it finds beneath. It’s a fitting title...

Reviewed in issue July/2025

Elkwort

Ben McElroy

Nottingham-based Ben McElroy’s Elkwort summons up an atmospheric, filmic soundscape. This cinematic quality is echoed in the inclusion of an...

Reviewed in issue July/2025

Compter les dents

tartine de clous

The 11 songs on this superbly performed set are drawn from something many of us have handled in our lives:...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Remscéla

Milkweed

You reach for your speakers; you hadn’t known them to cut out before. Now your system is playing havoc, the...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Handed On

Dreamers’ Circus

During the COVID-19 pandemic Danish trio Dreamers’ Circus couldn’t perform – so they composed, drawing inspiration from traditional Nordic music....

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Joku Raja Rakkaudesakin

Pauanne

Joku Raja Rakkaudesakin (Even Love Should Have Its Limits) – a phrase the Finnish folk duo of violinist Kukka Lehto...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Luoteniegut

Áššu

Joik vocalist Ulla Pirttijärvi is among northern Finland’s strongest Indigenous voices. Pirttijärvi combines her powerful singing with West African influences...

Reviewed in issue June/2025