One for the Road is the title of a new album by the artist Passenger (Mike Rosenberg), featuring songs from the musical The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Adapted by Rachel Joyce from her best-selling novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry features music and lyrics by Passenger (aka Mike Rosenberg), whose chart-topping hit Let Her Go became a global sensation. The production is directed by Katy Rudd.
Passenger said: “I am so so happy to announce that my brand new album – ‘One For The Road – songs from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry musical’. “We’ve been beavering away on this for the last year or so and I have to say I’m absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. This album is a selection of my favourite songs from the show…
Category: indie-folk
“I never will stop grieving.” When Leith Ross sings the first line of their sophomore album I Can See the Future, it isn’t angry or defeated or pleading. Instead, it’s calm, quietly accepting grief as an unavoidable part of the human condition that sticks itself to all corners of life and never gets unstuck. On “Grieving,” the Winnipeg-based indie singer-songwriter puts a country-folk spirit to a common feeling that is often difficult to describe; to mourn things that haven’t happened yet alongside the things that have: “I think I’ll love after I’m dead / And I’ll grieve while I’m alive.”
Joined by in-demand producer Rostam on the follow-up to their 2023 debut album To Learn, Ross doesn’t always place the past, present and future into three separate categories…
Newton Faulkner’s eighth studio album, Octopus, marks a bold new chapter for the multi platinum selling singer-songwriter – his most authentic and adventurous to date. Over five years in the making, the album sees Faulkner stepping into a new era with a refreshed sense of artistic freedom, blending unexpected influences from funk and R&B to soul and Latin grooves. Swapping his trademark acoustic guitar for a distortion-charged Hofner Violin Bass, he unlocks a fresh songwriting approach that fuels standout tracks like the anthemic lead single “Alright, Alright, Alright.”
Rich in collaboration,Octopus features contributions from Lissie, Los Bitchos and Bloom Twins, bringing new textures to his sound. It’s a record that celebrates creative reinvention…
Being best known as the ghostly melodic heart of Dean Blunt’s tales of wounded masculinity has often overshadowed Joanne Robertson’s brilliant, similarly idiosyncratic solo work. On Blurrr, her strongest and most focused work to date, she continues to build a gorgeous world of solitary melancholia. Sonically, it’s largely as sparse and haunted as Robertson’s previous work; simply recorded acoustic songs that seem gently smudged, words difficult to make out, all elements drifting into something that seems to ache through the fog. There’s something of early Cat Power about how unadorned and downcast it all is, but, perhaps owing to the simplicity of its recording, its atmosphere feels more domestic, less constructed, as if it’s something private overheard…
Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Tom Meikle – known by the moniker Mappe Of – first emerged with the highly acclaimed, self-produced debut A Northern Star, A Perfect Stone in 2017.
The album immediately captivated listeners with its sonic landscape, an ethereal avant-folk tour de force that belonged to no time or place. The high-concept full-length The Isle of Ailynn followed in 2019, showcasing Tom’s skill and talent for songwriting and production. After a long hiatus forced by the pandemic, Meikle and Mappe Of are poised to re-enter the music scene with fresh works that promise to continue his journey of musical exploration and boundary-pushing creativity.
After working on their previous album remotely due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Bombadil‘s Daniel Michalak and James Phillips met up in person at Phillips’ recording studio in Durham, North Carolina, in April 2025 to track a concept album about the moon. Joining them was new member Madison Rivis, a dancer/choreographer/multi-instrumentalist who’d been adding some choreography to their live sets, and who wrote the fable that served as the basis for an album about a group of friends who try to help the fallen moon get back in the sky.
While knowledge of this overarching plot isn’t necessary to enjoy tuneful acoustic songs about friendship, adventure, existential reflection, and needing help, it will aid in making sense…
…includes the original album, demos, the B-side “Shame,” a previously unreleased song called “The Seventies,” and live recordings of “Long Haired Child” and “Hey Mama Wolf.”
Cripple Crow marks a departure for Devendra Banhart. It’s obvious from the faux Sgt. Pepper-meets-Incredible String Band freak scene cover photo that something is afoot. The disc is Banhart’s first foray from Michael Gira’s Young God label, and it’s more adventurous than anything he’s done before. This is not to imply that the set is a slick, over-produced affair, but it is a significant change. The instrumental, stylistic, and textural range on this 23-song set is considerably wider than it’s been in the past. Working with Noah Georgeson and Thom Monahan, a backing band of…
There is a reason Emma Swift calls The Resurrection Game, her first full-length collection of all original material, a “bummer of an album,” as it took coming back from a mental health crisis for the singer-songwriter to develop these ten tracks.
The Sydney, Australia-born, Nashville-based Swift had a major nervous breakdown, leading her to be hospitalized for weeks and work for over a year to recover from her fragile state. Dealing with this mental pain, she somehow managed to turn these feelings of fear and helplessness into works of art. Teaming up with producer Jordan Lehning (Kacey Musgraves, Rodney Crowell) Swift gathered some of Nashville’s brightest and decamped to Chale Abbey studio on the Isle of Wight.
The island’s sense of isolation fed into…
A lot can be conveyed through minimal movement. A simple raised eyebrow shot towards a comment can showcase a lack of trust, an involuntary smile can highlight the love between people, and an acoustic, lyric-driven ballad can encapsulate an entire life’s journey. The closest most of us will get to a conversation with an artist we admire is through the vulnerability expressed in their music. A soft, slow, simplistic cut off an album begins to showcase an artist’s approach to songwriting and storytelling, and says a lot about the level of honesty an artist is willing to reach in order to connect with the listener.
Fruit Bats, the ever-evolving project of Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson, is no stranger to gentle, swaying balladry.
Across a dozen albums, Josh Ritter has established himself as a masterful songwriter, capable of transforming the raw stuff of human emotion into poetry that still feels deeply accessible. His talent has resonated not only with fans – music greats like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Bob Weir have also performed and recorded his songs. That wide-reaching admiration is proven out yet again on his latest release, I Believe in You, My Honeydew.
This latest record follows up last year’s mini-album Ritter recorded with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, but is more akin to his 2023 full-length, Spectral Lines. The title refers to Ritter’s muse, which he has named Honeydew, and like many of his earlier efforts, the album’s themes cover a range of emotions from loneliness to contentment,…
Newcastle-based singer, musician and disability activist Ruth Lyon‘s Poems & Non-Fiction is a stonking slice of indie-folk, layered with lush echoes of ’70s introspective folk-rock and modern-day funk. Produced by John Parish, who has previously worked with the likes of PJ Harvey, Lyon’s debut is in palpably atmospheric hands. Throughout, the album carries the ghostly vibe of classic ’70s folk and jazz, especially on the guitar-led ‘Caeser’. That mood resurfaces in the dreamy ‘Wickerman’ – all sultry spirituals and funky percussion – and in ‘Books’, with its haunting, swirling vocals and trippy synth. There’s also the pop-inflected ‘Perfect’, a sarcastic and impish response to the superficiality of modern life. A sense of otherness permeates…
Irish singer, composer, performance artist and puppeteer, Branwen Kavanagh‘s Mirrormouth shepherds us through a pensive, wistful landscape. Surrealism – both thematically and in the album art – is a key influence here.
The album’s title was inspired by a dream Branwen had about Tom Waits, and echoes of Waits can be faintly sensed throughout. The hazy ‘Morning Star’, with its distorted, muffled vocals, stumbles forward on a meditative, repetitive synth percussion. ‘Hares Breath’ pulses gently with a tranquil rhythm reminiscent of a Japanese shishi-odoshi, while ‘Laying Low’ plays with a heady, grinding guitar – deep and vibrating as if our very bones could feel it resonate. Mirrormouth closes with ‘Derelict’, which hypnotises us fully into…
Tuxis Giant return with their fifth album, You Won’t Remember This, an understated celebration of the fleeting moments – some magical, others awkward or terrifying – that make life precious.
The Boston/NYC group’s Bandcamp bio simply says “sometimes quiet / sometimes loud”. Most of the 13 tracks on their new LP fall into the first category, and the longest clocks in at just over three and a half minutes.
While calmness and brevity may risk coming off as uninspired, frontperson Matt O’Connor and co. ensure the record has the honesty and the emotional depth that render their restraint deeply affecting and, contrary to what the album title would have you believe, memorable.
That self-effacing line may be interpreted as…
Pittsburgh-based songwriter André Costello released his first album in 2011, and in the intervening years, has clocked up a significant catalogue of music.
Falling into the bracket of indie folk and rock, he has an understated vocal style, half-whispered and half-sung. It provides a gentle, sinuous way of encouraging his music into the subconscious.
Rocky Mountain Low (subtle nod to John Denver, there) is Costello’s latest release, and it feels like he has worked hard on a record that encapsulates the best of his vision. The audiophiles among you will be pleased to note it was recorded to tape, and certainly the sound is rich, warm and natural, and also pleasingly uncluttered. Crafted over six years with producer Anthony LaMarca,…
The End, Junior Brother’s third album, is a slow, ritual unravelling that feels at once antique and disoriented. It doesn’t progress so much as it circles ad infinitum – like a distortive reel heard from behind a wall.
Co produced by Junior Brother and John “Spud” Murphy (who has worked with Lankum and ØXN), the record embodies raw acoustic textures and microscopic detail. Pipes, flute, bowed drone, harmonium, cello and percussion all emerge – defiantly stark and close mic’d. There is almost no reverb – space is created by restraint, tension, not to mention that grainy, demented voice.
This is not folk as comfort, nor even revival. It’s something more exposed and speculative – music that sits at the edges of legibility.
There’s a clever brilliance to the title and cover art of Brian Dunne’s latest record, Clams Casino.
The scene is simple yet striking: Dunne sits alone at a table in an Italian restaurant, framed by walls of celebrity portraits, with a comically oversized bowl of spaghetti stacked high before him.
He meets the camera with a deadpan stare, an image that teases a tongue-in-cheek humor running through the album. It’s a fitting choice, since Dunne’s sharp, witty songwriting easily holds its own alongside masters like John Prine, Todd Snider, and Hayes Carll.
But the sentiment also belies the other side of Dunne’s music; songs here that tackle disappointment, rejection, self-doubt, and isolation. It’s that duality of Dunne’s work…
While visiting a Pasadena, CA art museum a few years ago, Grant Lee-Phillips found himself drawn to an ornate Indian painting. Its fine details were captivating, but it was the title — In the Hour of Cowdust — that lingered with him.
“A common theme throughout the poetry and the paintings of India is this concept of ‘the hour of cow dust,’” Phillips say. “It’s that moment of the day when the cows are led back home, they kick up the dust; that’s a cue to prepare the lamps. Night is about to fall.”
Tweaking the title slightly to In the Hour of Dust, Phillips used that painting as inspiration for his 12th solo album. Across 11 tracks, he uses contemplative, at times earnest, lyrics backed by atmospheric music to roll out…
Runnner’s sophomore full-length, A Welcome Kind of Weakness, emerged from a simultaneous tear in songwriter Noah Weinman’s body and life.
Written during the months spent bedridden and healing from a torn achilles and the drastic upheaval of a breakup, the 11 songs on this record are Weinman’s most bracing, inviting the perceived vulnerability of the album’s title willingly. But at the same time, these songs are Runnner’s most present, defiant and self-assured, a reminder of the resolve that can come from gracefully accepting submission.
In the summer of 2022, Runnner’s Noah Weinman found himself amidst a lot of change. On the one hand, he was going through a breakup — moving house and reeling. But on the other…