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The 10 best folk albums of 2024
Traditional songs in dub, Irish keening with touches of Yoko Ono and shape-note hymns with sound-processing were among the year’s records renewing an ever elusive genre
Little Roy’s delivery of Jewish traditional song Vine and Fig Tree, starts proceedings full of hope (“Nations shall learn war no more”) while Earl 16’s gorgeous rendition of Lifeboat Mona (written by Peggy Seeger about a 1959 capsizing that led to the loss of the vessel’s crew) reminds us of the horrors in today’s English Channel. Tracks such as Singing Birds/Jack Lattin and Sussex Waltz build compellingly, full of warmth and rigour, while Coffin Maker and A Fisherman’s Song for Attracting Seals/Full Rigged Ship add drones, double bass and violin to the mix, sculpting cinematic mini-epics from these base elements. Their material is enthusiastically gathered from Québécois, Occitan and Swedish sources, and its delivery inspired by the siblings’ visceral engagement with live performance, creating a fiery spirit for which producer Adam Pietrykowski (also a composer and progressive metal artist) allows ample room.
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