Folk
Track: Panteon – ‘Nobody’: electric folk lushness from Berlin
CURRENTLY based in Berlin, singer-songwriter Yvonne Ambrée writes, records and produces all of her music under the guise of Panteon. She’s gradually unveiling her forthcoming debut album with a string of singles throughout the year; and her latest release is “Nobody”, out today across all digital streaming platforms. It’s the kind of electric alt.folk loveliness …
Track: Le Ren and Buck Meek cover Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Early Morning Rain’ with sweet delicacy
MONTREAL chanteuse Le Ren has gotten together with Big Thief’s solo guitarist Buck Meek for a tender, delicate rerub of Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain”, which featured on his 1966 debut album. If you know Gordon Lightfoot’s catalogue, you know he’s never one to shout his considerable melodic chops from the rooftops – …
See the lyric video for Polly Paulusma’s ‘Jack Munro’ – an album of songs that influenced Angela Carter’s on the way
YOU WANT intelligent folk songcraft? Look no further than Polly Paulusma. Fresh from teaching English to undergraduates at Cambridge, and having recently been awarded a PhD, English folkie Polly Paulusma is set to returned with an album of songs which inspired Angela Carter’s dark retakes on the traditional folk tale paradigms, to be entitled Invisible …
EP: Clara Mann – ‘Consolations’ – Bristol newcomer’s exquisite debut EP
‘Soft, I will say it softly’, Clara Mann opens on ‘Thoughtless’. The lyric encapsulates this, her debut EP via Sad Club Records. Plaintive, classic “almost folk”, quiet, private and intimate, ‘Consolations’ has an almost pictorial quality. You see yourself in the world Mann creates. It’s almost as if you stand sadly with her as she …
Track: Anne Reburn – ‘Everywhere And Nowhere’: a sweet country-folk sentiment homespun for you
COMIN’ atcha from the state that likes to think of itself as The Native America, Oklahoma, Anne Reburn grew up singing, dancing and playing the piano from a young age. Her music is filled with the verve and excitement that comes from such an early joy, never lost. Her latest single drop, “Everywhere And Nowhere” …
Track: John Smith – ‘Hold On’: a plea to stay hoping with The Staves’ Jessica
AT LEAST once in recent times, Essex-born, Devon-raised folk troubadour John Smith has received the epithet “the guitarists’ guitarist”. And with a CV like his, you couldn’t argue; as a session musician he’s has played with Joan Baez, David Gray, Joe Henry, Lianne La Havas and Tom Jones. He’s also in possession of a voice …
Premiere: Naomi In Blue reveals the beautiful country tinged folk of her debut EP, An Experiment
British-Chilean singer-songwriter Naomi In Blue is gearing up for the release of her debut EP, An Experiment, this coming Sunday (28th February) via Walking Blacksmith Records, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere it right here on Backseat Mafia today. Mixing up the more experimental (but no less melodic) side of Americana, Naomi wrote …
See: Sarah McQuaid – ‘Charlie’s Gone Home’ (The St Buryan Sessions)@ folk excellence from the far west
FOLK singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid undertook a perigrination from Madrid to the States to Ireland before arriving in mainland Britain’s ultima thule, the deep Penwith peninsula. She’s releasing a series of intimate single videos under the banner the St Buryan Sessions, which will ultimately lead to a full album later in the summer; but for today, …
Track: Ted Barnes feat. Michael Clarke – ‘Way Beyond This’: a delicate acoustic tune telling of the moment your lover leaves
YOU MAY or may not have been blessed enough to have swooned for Clayhill, the cruelly underrated trio who got lumped into the semi-trendy genre ‘The New Acoustic’ by the music press alongside the likes of Lowgold and Kings of Convenience, which definition did them a massive disservice. Seek ye their albums; for further evidence …
Album review: A. Smyth unveils the imposing and beautiful album ‘Last Animals’
‘Lost Animals’ by Irish artist A. Smyth has an intriguing mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation that creates a delicate fusion between a folk songwriting tradition and more rugged indie rock roots. The golden thread throughout, though, is an ear for the sweetest of melodies and an indelible melancholia that permeates every track. The result …