01) Simon Joyner - Songs from a Stolen Guitar
Very nicely produced with the accompaniment of electric guitar, vibraphone, the dabs from the piano, the scratchy viola, the drums often played with the brushes only, thus remaining in the background, but thereby giving the record a subdued, but very warm atmosphere and providing the right amount of tension. But Simon Joyner is no stranger to conjuring up entire landscapes with the most sparing means and only two or three chords. Plus the scratchy, scraping vocals, and the great songs as always.
Great record from one of my old favorites.
02) Abigail Lapell - Stolen Time
Already the fourth album of the Canadian singer-songwriter. Wonderful balance between beautifully-reduced, intimate songs and a rather diverse instrumentation with guitar, piano, lap steel, harmonica, but also viola or French horns. Very atmospheric, the vocals sometimes reminiscent of Natalie Merchant. Just the right amount of retro influences that make for a seductive Seventies folk vibe.
03) King Hannah - I'm Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me
Great debut album! A duo from Liverpool, but with a rather American sound: dark, psychedelic, mysterious and sublimly menacing and sinister. Mazzy Star, Cowboy Junkies, Portishead, P J Harvey and quite strongly She Keeps Bees (which I appreciate very much) are shining through.
04) Jake Xerxes Fussell - Good and Green Again
Jake Xerxes Fussell's new album - his fourth since 2015 and again released on Paradise of Bachelors - is once again superb. Produced by James Elkington, a bit more lushly arranged than its predecessors, but this album is again a long, quiet flow, with that voice so warm and engaging, conveying peace and soul, somehow out of time.
05) Friendship - Love the Stranger
Alt-country band from Philadelphia/Pennsylvania that I only got to know with this record, although this is obviously already their fourth record. Nice warm sound, often with pedal steel and Wurlitzer in the background; nothing is rushed here, everything meanders quietly along with enough space and time, an album of the sublime small moments.
06) Dawn Riding - You're Still Here
Again a wonderful sound with the reduced arrangements, the light dabs of horns and pedal steel and the discreetly used feedback. A very soulful record, only just behind "Last Spring" from 2019.
07) Nina Nastasia - Riderless Horse
Incredibly strong return after 12 years. A disturbingly raw and sparse album, but that's what makes it so haunting and powerful.
08) Ian Noe - River Fools & Mountain Saints
Very good album, with a very warm and full sound, instrumentally versatile and rather fully produced compared to its great predecessor. "Between the Country" in its unadorned urgency is a bit closer to me, though.
09) S.G. Goodman - Teeth Marks
Once again produced by Jim James (My Morning Jacket). The sound this time a bit more straightforward, but also more diverse than on the great, much sparser 2020 debut album "Old Time Feeling". Her southern roots still shine through every crack, though.
10) Melissa Carper - Ramblin' Souls
Completely out of time with its blend of western swing, rockabilly and country. Nice vibes, and the hooks and melodies grab me from the first note.