Quick Picks | October 2023

Quick Picks

Album | EP | Single

The Sound Cafe Rating

5 star = essential, 4 star = excellent, 3 star = good, 2 = fans/collectors, 1 = for completionists only

Heather Lynne Horton: Get Me To A Nunnery (Album)

There are moments in music when your sensibilities are arrested by the sweeping beauty of instruments, voices, and songs. You find yourself caught up in a certain sonic rapture that leads to deep catharsis. It’s as if you’ve been bathed by healing waters and emerged enlightened.

That is the experience of Heather Lynne Horton’s third studio album, Get Me to a Nunnery, released on Pauper Sky Records. In 10 self-penned songs, Horton has created a melodic utopia that conjures up scenes of Kate Bush sipping tea with Joni Mitchell in a lush, muted garden with its beguiling scents and breathtaking imagery. Then, as if almost unexpectedly, Sinead O’Connor joins the soiree as the warm sun begins to set.

heatherhortonmusic.com

Calum Stewart: True North (Album)

True North brings together a trio of masterful musicians which Calum leads, showcasing his unrivalled skill on the Uilleann pipes and wooden flute. He is joined by Sylvain Quéré on the bouzouki and Yann Le Bozecon the double bass, whose combined musical voices and styles create an enchanting and evocative sound.

www.calum-stewart.com

Terra Lightfoot: Healing Power (Album)

With 2023’s new album Healing Power (out October 13, 2023 on Sonic Unyon Records), Lightfoot showcases her considerable clout as a pop songsmith, delivering a dozen stunning tracks that together represent a career high. The album is her third outing with producer Gus van Go, and it is tribute to her creative ambitions and capacity that the collaboration is yet another quantum leap in her artistic development.

www.terralightfoot.com

Matt McGinn: Behind Every Door (Album)

Pushed entirely from his comfort zone, it took an unnerving and potentially intimidating musical collaboration to jolt acclaimed Northern Irish singer-songwriter Matt McGinn from a period of musical depression to create his sixth and arguably finest album to date. Behind Every Door will be released on 27 October on Dolmen Lane Records.

www.mattmcginnmusic.com

Emilia Lajunen: Legacy of the Dead: Deep in the Dregs (Album)

Finnish folk violinist Emilia Lajunen has set her sights high on her solo album "Legacy of the Dead: Deep in the Dregs": She wants to resurrect an entire village full of passionate fiddlers from the archives! In doing so, she combines the ancient art of the Finnish fiddlers with her own distinctive playing.

Further accents arise from the close cooperation with the electronic sound tinkerer Eero Grundström, with whom the musician has already been working for 20 years.

emilialajunen.fi

Chris Pierce: Let All Who Will (Album)

With his new album, Let All Who Will, acclaimed Los Angeles singer and songwriter Chris Pierce delivers a powerful set of songs that amplify unheralded voices and aim to bring us together across the bitter trenches that divide us.

The new album is packed with intense storytelling, intuitive spontaneity, and powerful performances that capture a vivid snapshot of the kinship at the sessions, all supporting Pierce’s unmistakable and soulfully dynamic vocals. It’s clear from his songwriting that Chris Pierce holds a strong belief that songs can cut through the isolated and static feelings of individuals worn down by the uncertainty of everyday life.

www.chrispierce.com

Ange Boxall: Skipping Stone (Album)

Skipping Stone is Ange Boxall’s first full-length studio album since the birth of her daughter 11 years ago.

In reflection of these years, Skipping Stone has 11 beautifully crafted songs, each with a story to tell. These are not your typical female ‘noughtys’ throw away pop, they are honed lyrics that have been deeply thought about with compositions that have been meticulously worked. It all sounds cohesive and more-ish.

www.angeboxall.com

FRÄNDER: FRÄNDER II (Album)

The group’s second album, FRÄNDER II, is like nothing else heard on the folk or world music scene, pushing stylistic boundaries and proving FRÄNDER to be among today’s most trendsetting Scandinavian bands. They make a personal imprint on the nordic sound of folk music and their music is hauntingly evocative, with subtle echoes of Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and even the Beatles blending seamlessly with sounds from both Swedish and Estonian traditional music.

www.frander.se

Dave Gunning: Dr. Lonecloud’s Medicine Show (Single)

Award-winning Canadian folk artist Dave Gunning is thrilled to announce the release of his music video for "Dr. Lonecloud’s Medicine Show," a collaboration with celebrated Indigenous artist Alan Syliboy. This visually stunning and musically captivating video marks a significant artistic endeavor for both Gunning and Syliboy.

"Dr. Lonecloud’s Medicine Show" is a track from Gunning's latest album, "The Same Storm," (released Oct 28, 2022) which has already garnered critical acclaim and a dedicated fan base. The song's poignant lyrics and haunting melodies resonate deeply with audiences, making it a standout on the album.

www.davegunning.com

Kingfishr: Caroline (Single)

Kingfishr are Edmond Keogh, Eoghan McGrath & Eoin Fitzgibbon. The Limerick-based trio pride themselves on their musical independence, producing, writing and recording all of their own music at their home studio.

Kingfishr is an examination of the modern Irish experience, dealing with the love, loss and the struggle to find their place in society. Musically, they take inspiration from U2, Hans Zimmer, and Ben Howard, influences that are subsumed into the band's unique, deep sound.

www.kingfishr.ie

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