Ímar – Awakening

Awakening is the third album from Glasgow-based folk aces, Ímar – their first in five years. Featuring Mohsen Amini (concertina), Tomas Callister (fiddle), Adam Rhodes (bouzouki), Ryan Murphy (pipes, flute and whistle) and Adam Brown (bodhran, guitar), the album (featuring cover art of the 9^th century king from which the band takes its name) offers up ten tracks of mainly original tunes.

Mohsen Amini: “The idea behind this album was to take it back to where we came in with all the vibes of our debut album, Afterlight. As the band progressed, the music became more produced. We loved it but we never had more enjoyment that those original days at the inception of Ímar.”

Fresh, exhilarating and inventive, Awakening sees Ímar take us on a breathtaking ride through a stunning new collection of tunes that both showcase their virtuosity while giving every impression of a band having a huge load of fun during the making of it.

Released: 21 April 2023 https://www.imarband.com/

Westward The Light – Flow Country

Westward The Light are Charlie Grey, Sally Simpson, Owen Sinclair and Joseph Peach. Formed in 2018, the band have won acclaim on the folk scene for their innovative arrangements of Scottish traditional tunes on fiddle, viola, piano and guitar. Flow Country, named after the region of rolling peatland between Caithness and Sutherland, is their second album.

Joseph Peach: “Flow Country is a record on which the tune takes precedence. There are no gimmicks, there’s jus straight up traditional music which we feel really captures the essence of our Scottish culture and heritage.”

A lovely collection of tunes that instantly transport the listener to the rugged landscapes and long-cherished musical heritage of the north of Scotland and which showcase some stunning interactions between these highly-skilled instrumentalists, Flow Country leaves its mark from the very first listen.

Released: 31 March 2023 https://westwardthelight.com/

James Kerry – Source

Still only in his mid-20s, melodeon-player and composer, James Kerry, has been a noted presence on the UK folk scene, playing at festivals such as Warwick Folk Festival and Broadstairs Folk Week and establishing a reputation for passionate, rhythmic playing rooted in the folk dance tradition. Source is Kerry’s first solo project and features mainly traditional English tunes with a handful of original compositions and a couple of contemporary pieces by other writers thrown in as well.

“Source is a true representation of James’ style and passions and reflects his huge respect for traditional music and his desire to pass it on,” we are told in the album sleeve-notes.

A fine showcase for James Kerry’s skilful playing, supporters of traditional English dance tunes will simply love this album – which also boasts a stunning line-up supporting musicians  in Tom Kitching, James Delarre and Danny Tonks.

Released: 1 April 2023 https://jameskerrymusic.com/

Neil Pearlman – Refractions

Neil Pearlman is best known for his ground-breaking approach to the piano in Celtic music. In that capacity he tours regularly with Kevin Henderson, Katie McNally, The Pine Tree Flyers, and as a solo pianist, while playing more irregularly with a wide variety of side projects featuring top Celtic, Americana and Jazz musicians. His latest project, Refractions, is a collection of traditional Scottish and Gaelic tunes, arranged especially for solo performance on the piano.

Neil Pearlman: “The choice to focus on traditional Scottish  melodies is my way of paying respect to my roots. Traditional Scottish tunes are some of the very first music I ever heard or played, so going into that repertoire and having a conversation with it as the artist I am today was a powerful experience, and a good way to explore both who I am now and where I come from.”

Some of the tunes on Refractions are familiar, others less so, but what Pearlman does throughout the whole album is find the inherent beauty in each individual tune and present them in an entirely new light. It makes for a poignant and highly intimate album with some exceptional playing.

Released: 5 May 2023 https://neilpearlman.com/

Owen Moore – Songs From The Shamrock Bar

And finally, while there’s been a heavy focus on instrumental albums in this latest round-up, the ever industrious Irish-born, Dorset-based singer songwriter Owen Moore also has a new album out, another compilation – this one with an Irish theme.

Owen Moore: “My new album is called Songs From The Shamrock Bar and is an anthology of recordings that have all appeared on previous Owen Moore albums and singles over the past ten years or so. All of the songs have a link of some sort with Ireland, which is where I was born (70 plus years ago) and many of them take a nostalgic look at days gone by.”

Always entertaining, with a penchant for engaging storytelling, catchy melodies and gentle guitar picking, Owen Moore’s own brand of Americana-infused singer-songwriting with that special touch of Celtic magic is very much on display here.

Released: 17 March 2023 http://www.owenmooremusic.com/