Top Ten 2024

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2024:

‘All God’s Children: Songs From The British Jesus Rock Revolution 1967-1974’: "‘All God’s Children’ assembles the best of the British Christian acts, including such respected names as Out Of Darkness (and their earlier incarnation, garage R&B act The Pilgrims), Parchment, Whispers Of Truth and Judy MacKenzie. It also features the secular alongside the sacred, including the likes of Strawbs, Moody Blues, Amazing Blondel, John Kongos and Medicine Head – bands who, though theologically shyer than their more overtly Christian contemporaries, all wrote songs with a strong spiritual message." "Mr. Wells and Grapefruit Records have outdone themselves with their detailed research, their ability to find tracks both profound and disturbing, and providing liner notes worthy of the Encyclopedia Britannica. This set is not just for the Jesus freak, but for anyone who is interested in how movements of all sorts find their voice through popular music."

'Question of Balance' - The Moody Blues: "In the liner notes to the CD of Question Of Balance Hayward speaks of how Question was a protest song about the wars of the day but also a response to the breakdown of the sixties and the loss of the dream of the time. There is no doubt that this lyric shows a band reaching beyond what the hippy can achieve in the resources of humanity and seeking a transcendent power to bring the miracle that is recognised as crucial to some answer to our question of meaning and to our satisfaction of soul ... bass player John Lodge ... said, "In the '60s we were all looking for something. If you did a gig you'd spend hours afterwards meeting people, talking about religion. I grew up through an evangelical church, and the more I talked to people, the more I realized all the things I'd learned at church were relevant--and what everyone was looking for" ... His words are proven in a later song on the same album as Question. I remember listening to Minstrel, down the years, and thinking that I could see Jesus in the words ... For Lodge, the answer to his band mate Justin Hayward’s Questions was the Jesus of his upbringing and continuing spiritual journey. Right in the middle of their questioning album there is a quiet answer."

'Abracadabra: The Asylum Years' - Judee Sill: "Although much of Sill’s recorded output is loaded with images and symbology from Christianity, you won’t hear her songs played on your local devotional radio station or covered during youth services on Sunday nights. For one, she was just as fascinated with the occult as with Christianity. But her relationship with faith, however one wants to define it, was idiosyncratic and unique to her and her art. She sang longingly for something, anything, beyond the physical world, throwing open her arms to its chaotic uncertainty, ascribing holy meaning to everything—from being betrayed by a lover to seeking God—in her visions of ghosts that haunted early 1970s Los Angeles. In a 1972 Rolling Stone interview, she said that though her religion is “unspeakable, it’s not unsingable.” In other words, Sill’s belief in a higher power is intensely personal and intuitive. It might not make sense to others, but it doesn’t have to. Her eclectic religious and allegorical evocations allow her to peer through these impenetrable symbols and images that are as omnipresent and intangible as air to probe their human dimensions. But her music also revels in the beauty that arises from living in and with such uncertainty, a beauty which has taken years for me to appreciate."

'#1 Record' - Big Star: "It’s remarkable–arguably the “hippest” American band of the 70s (certainly the one that indie rockers love to name-drop the most) made music that, especially on their first record, bordered on proto-Christian rock. Much of this was due to the influence of the overtly Christian Chris Bell, the co-leader of the band who in recent years has become something of a poster boy for tragic indie artistry. And indeed, if his songs are anything to go by, the guy was tortured. But first, the Christianity: a few sample lyrics of Bell’s song “My Life Is Right” off Big Star’s debut #1 Record, “Once I walked a lonely road/I had no one to share my load/But then you came and showed the way/And now I hope you’re here to stay/You give me life”. Borderline mega-church stuff, if it weren’t for all the chiming power chords and gorgeous Beatle-esque production."

'Songs from the Rain' - Hothouse Flowers: "Gone is the awestruck gusto and frantic overdubbing of People. Gone are the guest musicians and backing vocalists of Home, as well as the lush arrangements and over-production, which gave that album its ripe sound ... In their place is a sound more pastoral, with even more of an ethereal beauty. The mix is sparse, capturing the band's live sound in a way the preceding albums have not done ... The songs have also encapsulated the band's inherent spirituality - both in sound and in lyric. Some are heavily immersed in gospel, with big choral crescendoes. Where before choirs and guest vocalists were used, the backing vocals here are distinctly those of Hothouse Flowers themselves - and the harmonies are used to great effect ... Songs from the Rain is a tender and uplifting album, exploring the band's soul while reaching outward and imploring its listeners to do the same. It is a sublime creation." 'Thing of Beauty' "is ‘truth sight’, seeing things as they are in all their imperfect splendour, their ‘broken holiness’ and knowing deeply, intuitively, that all is beautiful, glorious."

'La Vita Nuova' - Maria McKee: "It's loud with emotions, deafening emotions, sweeping emotions, cathartic revelations that inspire and transfix. While earlier albums have had decades to work on me, this one had the same sort of effect instantly. Intensely personal and blissfully broad in tone, nearly every composition here rings with the kind of heart-on-the-sleeve generosity that McKee used as a performer on earlier records. She can sound like she's spinning near the edge of a cliff, about to throw herself over, and then she pulls things together and roars back into our orbit. La Vita Nuova is an extraordinary album, and the sort of thing I want to play as loudly as possible even as it seems like the world's ending around us."

'Grace Will Lead Me Home' - Angeline, Cohen & Jon: "This project, which commemorates the 250th anniversary of the writing of the hymn [Amazing Grace], has new songs to explore the dichotomy between the song and the sometime trade of its writer. It is heady stuff." "All credit, then, to Jon Bickley, for pulling all this together, he being a poet, folksinger, radio and podcast producer from Bucks, instigator of the Invisible Folk Club, a virtual folk club, wherein he often explores, often in cahoots with academics and historians, the backgrounds of and to our folk traditions. Here his cahoots include no less than Angeline Morrison and Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, each fast staking claims in the annals of a black Britain hitherto undiscovered or forgotten, together for Morrison’s ‘The Sorrow Songs’ and Braithwaite-Kilcoyne as part of Reg Meuross’ ‘Stolen From God’ project."

'Stolen from God' - Reg Meuross: "... in Stolen From God, he has unquestionably written his masterpiece in a song cycle that turns an unflinching eye on the toxic legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, especially in his home in the South West of England. Shocked by his realisation of his ignorance of British Black History, of the Empire and how so many of the nation’s grand estates and lauded figures were tainted by the stain of slavery that had served as the foundation for their wealth and public acclaim. Embarking on four years of in-depth research into family trees, church records, and oral histories passed down through generations and uncovering many uncomfortable long-hidden truths in the true tradition of folk music, he has turned these into songs about seafaring, war, class, politics and social history with subjects that range from how naval legends like Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins who helped to establish the transatlantic slave trade, how it underpinned the British economy of the17th century, the first petition to abolish slavery that originated in Bridgwater and Edward Colston, the Bristol merchant, entrepreneur and philanthropist finally revealed as being involved in the forcible kidnapping and transportation of some eighty thousand Africans."

'The Other Side' - T Bone Burnett: "The Other Side, could, perhaps, be seen as a companion piece to that self-titled triumph [T Bone Burnett] as it contains many of the qualities Jon Young and Brad Reno have identified in the earlier album i.e. a sparse, largely acoustic country affair with songs that tend to be more personal than preachy. Paradoxes are never far away in Burnett’s world and we are treated to a particularly compelling list in ‘Everything and Nothing’ including: Everybody wants to know the truth but nobody wants to hear it. / Everybody has to face the end but nobody wants to get near it. / Everybody wants peace but nobody wants to surrender. / Everyone lives in the past but nobody seems to remember. Burnett has spoken of a dystopian dream he has had repeatedly over the years which shapes his understanding of societal trends and digital developments in particular. The paradoxes he notes are one of the ways in which he describes societal challenges, at the same time that he writes characters seeking renewal, restoration and reconciliation in the midst of a cruel world."

'Wild God' - Nick Cave: "His latest album reminds me of Julian of Norwich’s work; baffling, subversive, mystical, rooted in a truth that can’t be proven. A truth he wouldn’t be interested in proving, anyway. It, too, swerves ‘rightness’. It, too, refuses to dilute the oddness of faith. It, too, is irresistibly intense ... This is not a casual album. Any true Nick Cave fan would scold me for ever expecting it to be. The album is a ten-track-long ode to a Wild God who has met Nick in the darkest of places. Places, I’m sure, he never wanted to go. Places, I’m sure, he will never fully leave. Such a wild God is a challenge to a culture that has enthroned comfort. We’re too easily spooked. But Cave, through a combination of circumstance and intentionality, appears to have entirely shunned comfort. And so, he’s in prime position to introduce us to a God who will confound us. Julian of Norwich’s book and Nick Cave’s album are centuries apart – yet, somehow, it feels as though they have been made from the same materials: profound discomfort and raw wonder."

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.

My music-related articles from 2024 include: Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion; A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics; Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us; Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs; James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord; Belle and Sebastian's suffering singer on the struggle and the hope; Emotive Beats; Pure Gospel/Mavis Staples; and Gospel Hopes.

My music-related posts from 2024 include: Methuselah, Amazing Blondel, Tom Yates; David Ackles, Chris Bell, Bryan Maclean; and Jesus Music - 1 & 2.

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Hothouse Flowers - Thing Of Beauty. 

Top Ten 2023

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2023:

Bruce Cockburn - O Sun O Moon: "O Sun O Moon is a surprise turn away from political and social satire or commentary to a more personal, and also seemingly more straightforward, blues and folk based music, where texture and arrangement are the focus. It’s subtle, enticing music that isn’t afraid to remain stripped back but also welcomes clarinet, upright bass, accordion, glockenspiel, saxophones and marimba into the mix as and when required. Cockburn sounds relaxed and slightly gruff vocally throughout, quiet and contemplative, whilst the album sounds as though it was recorded next door. It’s warm and enticing, with love – be that romantic, spiritual or sexual – often posed as not only the answer but a command from above."

Pissabed Prophet - Pissabed Prophet: "This album mixes the colourful and riotously explosive Britpop psychedelic influences of the Small Faces and Beatles with the melodiousness and carefully-observed lyrics of the Kinks... Like a prophet, Simpkins is reporting back from within the bell jar of cancer treatment to share a renewed zest for life as he refuses to mourn a dream and resolves to let life and love flow... Zany in parts, moving in others, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unusual, inspired and profound album this year. ‘Pissabed Prophet’ will thrill, intrigue, amuse and inspire." Equally good is Apple, the EP that followed.

Corinne Baily Rae - Black Rainbows: "Bailey Rae takes us on a journey from the rock hewn churches of Ethiopia, to the journeys of Black Pioneers Westward, from Miss New York Transit 1957, to how the sunset appears from Harriet Jacobs' loophole, in order to explore Black femininity, Spell Work, Inner Space/Outer Space, time collapse and ancestors, the erasure of Black childhood and music as a vessel for transcendence. Yet, 'Before the Throne of the Invisible God' is where her energised and empathetic, wracked and anguished, celebratory and creative journey through Black history and the continuing legacy of racism finds its resolution. In a place not of simple submission, but of living the questions raised by a capacious faith where responses to prayer are both the actions of life and also the explorations found on this album."

Dave Gaham & Soulsavers - Angels & Demons: "With Depeche Mode, frontman Dave Gahan‘s haunting baritone often provides the human touch within songwriter Martin Gore’s icy electronic tableaus. With Soulsavers — a British production duo known for its gospel-inflected, organic sound — the singer has room to grow into something more. Angels & Ghosts is the second album Gahan has recorded with the group, after 2012’s dark, bluesy The Light the Dead See. Prior to that, the producers worked with a who’s who of underground heroes — husky-voiced grunge vet Mark Lanegan, vocal contortionist Mike Patton and sensitive folk singer Will Oldham, among others — but they stumbled on a unique foil with the Depeche Mode singer. And while The Light the Dead See was very much a transitional record, this album is where Soulsavers and Gahan hit their stride."

J Lind - The Land of Canaan: "J Lind’s sophomore album, "The Land of Canaan" (2021), is the next chapter in an increasingly deep and diverse body of work. The production conjures other-worldly soundscapes reminiscent of Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno while the thoughtful lyric draws on those of Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, and Dawes. Laced with religious allegory and existential unrest, Lind’s second album grapples with the destabilizing effect of our ever-shifting values and the ephemeral nature of our private promised lands."

The Mercy Seat - The Mercy Seat: "Truly, the whole band is amazing and shines with virtuosity. Bassist Patrice Moran features very prominently here, and her lines really help to preserve the gospel tone of the record. Gano and drummer Fernando Menendez push the music much more into the Dead Kennedys or Butthole Surfers end of the spectrum. Singer/bombshell Zena Von Heppinstall is the major creative force here, penning four of the songs and carrying the music with her fabulous voice. Highlights are "Don't Forget About Me," the bluesy "He Said," and the "Let the Church Roll On/I Won't Be Back" medley."

Victoria Williams & the Loose Band - Town Hall 1995: "Victoria Williams is truly one of a kind. Town Hall is a perfect introduction to her eccentric talents." "'You R Loved' is anchored by slapdash percussion, pedal steel accents and prickly piano. A mid-tempo rocker it pivots on dense harmonies and flange-y guitar. This is Vic at her most spiritual, giving herself up to a higher power exemplified by 'lines of poetry, revealing mysteries.' Insisting Jesus’ love is universal, her impassioned ardor makes believers of even the most aporetic."

Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now: "Darkness. Lightness. Adulthood. Youth. Knowledge. Ignorance. Despair. Redemption. All reside in Mercy Now. As the last line quivers from Mary Gauthier’s pursed lips,'Every single one of us could use some mercy now', the listener is exposed to an emotion the artist has painstakingly painted into every note and vocal. Humility….something else we could us now. Thank you, Mary."

Ruthie Foster - Healing Time: "an album that gives off an overwhelming feeling of love and freedom. Foster has one of the best voices in American music today and she uses it as a healing tonic for our struggling world. Fans have always found healing qualities in Ruthie’s music but this new song cycle operates on a fresh, higher level. Her tones, lyrics, and ideas seem designed to comfort all of the displaced souls of the last few years. In many ways, this is the record that many of us need to hear right now. If you are dragging through endless lost and broken days, spin this and let Ruthie lead you to the light."

Bob Dylan - Fragments: "... seems to have been jilted by all that he once saw as his lover; the poetry and the musical backdrop are of a man at the very end of his tether. And yet it is not dark yet and Dylan still sees glimpses, tiny and all as they are... there are still inklings of hope and indeed maybe the candle of the Born Again late 70s and early 80s still flickers - I know the mercy of God must be near (Standing In The Doorway)- But I know that God is my shield/ and he won't lead me astray(Til I Fell In Love With You)... If faith kicks in as a refuge in times of trouble perhaps this is a more truely Biblical work than saved."

Worth checking out is Right by Her Roots: Americana Women and Their Songs by Jewly Hight which has influenced some of these choices.

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.

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Pissabed Prophet - Night Prayer.

Top Ten 2022

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2022:

Iain Archer - To the Pine Roots: “Conceived and recorded in a cottage by the Black Forest and imbued with the voices and performances of friends and family, To The Pine Roots … is an ethereal album … The whisper of instantly recalled melodies, the burring of an age-old harmonium, the ghostly reverb of pinewood walls and escapist rhythms teased from an acoustic guitar, distantly recalling a Celtic past. Iain Archer is a songwriter of the forever-enigmatic mould, unencumbered by musical trends and time constraints. From the hazy recollections of childhood he draws vivid the scenes of "Black Mountain Quarry" and "Streamer On A Kite"; with a playwright's gift for characterisation "The Acrobat" and "The Nightwatchman", pertinent metaphors for life and living; and at the album's core "Frozen Lake", a steepling spire of a love song with a fragile voice, buoyed and raised by harmonium and strings.” 

Hurtsmile – Hurtsmile: “Extreme frontman Gary Cherone took advantage of the band's long gap between the recording and touring cycles, and decided to launch his own band Hurtsmile in collaboration with brother Mark Cherone on guitar… Hurtsmile's self-titled debut is a roller coaster ride through a wide range of musical styles, from classic rock 'n roll to modern rock to country rock and even some exotic touches here and there. Half way through it you won't even feel like you're still listening to the same album, such is the diversity. While it's based on rock 'n roll roots, it takes the listener through a different side of Gary Cherone and co, one that's never been brought to light quite like this before.” 

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof: “It seems lifetimes ago that Plant and Krauss released their six-Grammy-winning album of duets, Raising Sand (2007) ... This long-awaited second instalment of enthralling covers is a dose of musical reassurance that, despite the turmoil in which we find ourselves, some things remain constant. Roots music and rhythm and blues have always played a long game in matters of the human condition. What worked a treat then continues to work now: Plant dialled down to a sultry croon or, on Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces’ Searching for My Love, to a yearning kind of blue-eyed soul, Krauss’s country tones alternately limpid, frisky or timeworn, T Bone Burnett producing deftly. A superlative band creates nuanced tension or percolates away discreetly as required.” 

Rev Simpkins – Saltings: “’Saltings' is a loving portrait of the mystery and beauty of the salt marsh wildernesses of Essex, and a meditation on the human cost of the wilderness time of the pandemic. Like Rev Simpkins's last LP, 'Big Sea', 'Saltings' is most of all a record of unblinking realism amidst darkness, and of a hope grounded in human experience. The album weaves together tales of the legendary and mysterious figures of the saltings, such as John Ball (leader of the peasants’ revolt) and Saint Cedd (whose Saxon chapel stands at Bradwell), with reflections on the wilderness’s ever-changing tides, skies, and seasons. ‘Saltings’ is an attempt to share the atmosphere and history of this remarkable place in picture and song.” 

Ricky Ross - Short Stories Volume 2: “These Short Stories records have given Ross a whole other outlet. Here he sits at the piano and with a lack of clutter gives us surmises on home and work and faith … as he was conjuring these songs he was also writing his first memoir Walking Back Home. As a result, we get stories of family and loss … Your Swaying Arms … A beautiful song that incorporates all of Ross’s strengths - story, sense of place, romance and little lyrical depth charges … Short Stories Vol. 2 is a slow burn of an album crammed with the finest of songs. Every return brings a surprise of piano melody or poetic line.” 

Wovenhand - Silver Sash: “Powerful, subtle and intensely deep. Uniting the calm and mystic side of the early Wovenhand years with the straight forward yet still magic songs of his latest albums. Over the last two decades, his prolific work in both Wovenhand and the legendary 16 Horsepower has influenced and inspired a generation of musicians throughout the expansive alternative music world. The band cannot be described in traditional terms. Their sound is an organic weave of neo-folk, post rock, punk, old-time, and alternative sounds. All coming together as a vehicle for David's soulful expression and constant spiritual self-exploration.” 

Mavis Staples & Levon Helm - Carry Me Home: “Much has changed, of course, in the decade since Staples and Helm reunited for this set in Woodstock. Less than a year later, Helm died in a New York hospital, losing his battle with throat cancer after 28 radiation treatments. Cancer also took Yvonne Staples—a force of her own, even at her sister’s side—six years later. But the real tragedy and the true impact of this set stem from how current it feels now and how it will likely remain that way. Staples’ odes to faith and survival, as well as her quips about bad politics, are as relevant now as they were then, if not more. “I’m only halfway home,” she sings during “Wide River to Cross,” the big band lifting behind her. “I’ve got to journey on.” It’s a Buddy and Julie Miller song, presumably about heavenly ascendance. But surrounded by family and friends, Staples grounds it here on earth, making it about the push for everyone’s progress. Make no mistake: This is fight music, rendered with soul strong and sweet.” 

Patti Smith – Land: “Her music is religious—not necessarily in any way that’s particularly traditionally faithful, but in the sense that she’s always questioning the universe, hoping and praying for answers yet still basking in the search for them. And Smith still ploughs onward. It was only within the past decade that she released her instant-classic memoir Just Kids, and its follow up, 2017’s M Train, which brought her prolific catalogue of music and poetry to the ears and eyes and hearts of a new generation. On her 2012 album Banga, she wrote songs about contemporary tragedies like the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and the death of Amy Winehouse; this year, her collaboration with the Sidewalk Collective, The Peyote Dance, saw her continuing her exploration of mystical interiority through her interpretation of the writing of French poet Antonin Artaud. Of her few peers left standing, it’s hard to imagine anyone else reinvigorating their career in a way that’s anywhere near as successful and, more importantly, evolved as Smith’s.” 

Ho Wai-On – Music is Happiness: “… produced after I survived cancer for the second time … Music is Happiness is a CD of my music, and a 64-page book written and designed by me (CD cover & book cover design by Albert Tang) containing related stories, poems and more than 200 illustrations. The music is performed by excellent musicians. The Chinese character for 'Music' also means 'Happiness'. In the face of adversity, I have found happiness through creativity. In the eight selected works reflecting my bumpy journey of life, the music is very varied.” 

The Welcome Wagon – Esther: “Much of the impetus for their latest came from Monique’s decision to take up painting again after a decade of inactivity. The collage materials she used were taken from the collection of her late grandmother, Esther, whose readings from the Bible (home-recorded onto cassette during the ’90s) kept her company. As Vito’s tentative new songs gathered shape, with Monique’s accompanying artwork, it became apparent that home, family and faith were the three interlocking themes of what became Esther. Simplicity is key to the Welcome Wagon sound. Vito’s guitar is gentle and politic, allowing for their voices – either trading leads or paired in intimate harmony – to carry the soft weight of these devotional songs … Occasional samples of Esther’s voice provide a kind of narrative thread, linking Vito’s originals to sacred hymnals like “Noble Tree” and “Bethlehem, A Noble City”, while “Nunc Dimittis” is a canticle from the Gospel of Luke in traditional Latin. With subtle embellishments of brass, strings and piano, Esther sometimes resembles the work of The Innocence Mission or [Sufjan] Stevens himself: charming, understated and often very beautiful.” 

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.

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Rev Simpkins - For Every Number.

Top Ten 2021

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2021:

Bob Dylan - Springtime in New York, The Bootleg Series: Springtime in New York represents a significant re-evaluation of a period of Dylan's work which had largely been written off (Shot of Love and Empire Burlesque) or thoroughly misinterpreted (Infidels) by those who wanted back the Dylan that they thought they had possessed rather than the Dylan who was actually evolving in front of them. Dylan left classic songs such as Caribbean Wind, The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar, Angelina, Blind Willie McTell, Foot of Pride, and New Danville Girl off these albums. While each album included other classics such as Every Grain of Sand, Jokerman, I and I, and Dark Eyes, had the songs left off these albums been included the reaction to the albums as a whole would have been enhanced. In addition, these dense, wordy yet illuminating songs would have made it clearer that, in this period, Dylan was moving away from the simplistic and direct expression of faith that characterised the Gospel albums to songs where his exploration of faith was both more allusive and open. Springtime in New York reveals the inadequate nature of much initial response to a complex changing artist like Dylan while also showing that such initial misunderstandings of his work by becoming the standard response actively prevented understanding of the work until challenged by unreleased songs the quality and spirituality of which could not be denied.

Piers Faccini - Shapes of the Fall: 'In Shapes Of The Fall Piers Faccini has created a masterpiece – cerebral, thought-provoking, but above all, musically, an intensely enjoyable listening experience.' 'As he explains, “The fall is what we’re already living through, there is a kind of collapse happening already. And alongside that, I wanted to play around with the myth of the Garden of Eden, as if it were today.” The exhaustion of the planet’s resources and ongoing environmental catastrophes and loss of bio-diversity evidenced first-hand in his witnessing trees dying and birds disappearing within his locality leads him to pessimistically question man’s relationship with his environment whilst ruminating upon any possible resolutions. Thus hope and desperation, destruction and rehabilitation are parallel dichotomies that run like threads through the album.'

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage: 'Carnage comes after a remarkable trilogy of Bad Seeds releases, in which Cave and his band—among the fiercest animals in rock’n’roll, when they want to be—approached total stillness.' 'The story they tell is a version of the one Cave has spent his whole career telling, before and after the tragedy that ruptured his personal life—about our equal capacities for cruelty and love, and the flickering possibility of salvation in a brutal world.' 'As ever, Cave uses overtly religious imagery in ways both subversive and devout. The “kingdom in the sky” first appears in the album’s opening lines, where the foreboding music suggests we are doomed never to find it. Its final recurrence comes near the album’s end, in the dreamlike “Lavender Fields,” where a choir urges Cave’s narrator to have faith despite his loss: “Where did they go?/Where did they hide?/We don’t ask who/We don’t ask why/There is a kingdom in the sky.”'

The Alpha Band - The Arista Albums: 'Originally T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles and David Mansfield met when they worked together in Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder review backing band. When the wheels fell off the bus of that particular tour at the end of 1975, the trio were immediately signed by Arista with big things predicted. They recorded three albums - 'Interviews', 'Spark In the Dark' and 'The Statue Makers Of Hollywood' - before sadly quitting as a band in 1979. Despite the high expectations and critical acclaim poured on the band, they failed to convert their talents into record sales so despite being fine albums, these remain cult classics. In hindsight, perhaps The Alpha Band were just too good or just ahead of their time. Mixing a myriad of Americana and world music influences together, they manage to sound spookily contemporary to 21st century listeners.' Robert Christgau writes of The Alpha Band as 'a country-rock band shocked by city living into a credible, slightly surrealistic nastiness, rather than the usual sleazy lies.' 'This unholy trio's second album is "humbly offered in the light of the triune God," but T-Bone Burnett still sounds like a helluva monad to me.' 'Now I learn that my man J.H. Burnett really is a born-again Christian, which must be why he feels so strongly about money changers and temples. Nonbelievers consider him shrill, but I find something sweet and reflective right beneath his cool, caustic self-righteousness.'

Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times: 'Deeply motivated by today’s social climate, Our Lady Peace finds a smooth balance between enjoyable music, and deep-thinking lyrics. This is surely one of the most mature albums that the group has made to date; and stands quite strongly in the post-American Idiot world of politically-minded rock records. The album opens with the punchy “Angels/Losing/Sleep,” and is represented on the airwaves by jaunty first single “Where Are You.” Highlights include the darkly played track “Wipe That Smile Off Your Face,” U2-tinged “Boy,” and the gorgeous, subdued album closer “Al Genina (Leave A Light On).” Sung with such passion, and child-like hope (choked with cynicism); it is truly a gorgeous tune.'

Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus - Songs of Yearning: 'The revival of Revolutionary Army Of The Infant Jesus that began in 2015 with the Dostoevsky-quoting Beauty Will Save The World has culminated in two new albums – Songs Of Yearning plus companion, Nocturnes. Just like Beauty…, the songs here are friendlier on the ear than the experimentalism of their youth, new players (including children of the original members) bringing fresh impetus. True, a still-intense album of neo-classical 4AD-style ambient folk featuring six different languages and a cover of Ave Maria might not sound that friendly but this is beautiful music built on a relatively unchanged sonic aesthetic that still works after nearly four decades – delicate, plaintive, swelling, and with a never-ending yearning for a half-forgotten past.' 'RAOTIJ may be destined to be remain one for the Godspeed-cum-Gorecki fans but Songs Of Yearning is far purer of spirit and intent than ever before – one for the heart not the heads.'

Valerie June - The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers: 'The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers is an unusual record, one that draws together a diverse array of influences – guided meditation, Fela Kuti, Sun Ra, Memphis soul, racial oppression, pedal steel and Tony Visconti among them, and somehow weaves them into one of this year’s most exceptional offerings.' 'The Order Of Time was an intimate, half-conversational affair, that voice muted and meandering, but oddly all the more heart-rending for its new restraint. The album drew wide critical acclaim and the admiration of Bob Dylan. The Moon And Stars feels a more fully realised project, more wide-ranging and self-assured than its predecessors. Its 14 tracks offer a loose lyrical narrative of the path of the ‘dreamer’ – the conjuring of self-belief, the setbacks, the sorrows, the strength to rise again. In and between, June introduces moments of sonic contemplation that on first listen prove unexpected; it is a brave album that follows its opening track with a 55-second wordless meditation – a wind-chimed, otherworldly deep breath before the heart-thumping, percussive scurry of “You And I”.'

Mica Paris - Gospel: 'the British soul icon returns to her roots with Gospel, her first studio release since 2009’s Born Again. The scope is fairly liberal: Paris tackles traditional gospel (‘Oh Happy Day’, ‘Amazing Grace’), African-American spirituals (‘Go Down Moses’, ‘Motherless Child’), contemporary anthems, perhaps with a latent religious subtext (‘Something Inside So Strong’, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’), and two originals which, though secular in content, have a clear church influence (‘The Struggle’, ‘Mamma Said’).' 'in many ways this is the album a lot of Mica Paris fans have been waiting for: Songs which allow Paris’ marvellous voice, and all its colours and textures, to shine. Her instrument, which drew comparisons to Anita Baker when Paris first came on the scene in the late 1980s, has deepened beautifully with age. And there are some rousing vocal performances. She allows her voice to shred as she catches on a high note, opting for impassioned imperfection over polish. The heaviness and depth to Paris’ vocal imbues spirituals ‘Go Down Moses’ and ‘Motherless Child’ with a conviction and confident storytelling. Flecks of bluesy guitar swirl around Paris on original song ‘The Struggle’, where she sings of the challenges of navigating this world as a Black woman.'

Deacon Blue - Riding on the Tide of Love: 'Deacon Blue’s new album was never meant to be but, as Covid has bent lives and livelihoods out of shape, doors close, plans change and opportunities arise. With no option to tour their 2020 City of Love album, the band chose to mine the spirit of that record in other ways with their second album in less than 12 months. Riding on the Tide of Love is a continuation, featuring three tracks recorded during the City of Love sessions and others polished up incrementally, with each musician heading into the studio to record their part in isolation. The result is a mellow companion piece, gentle, unhurried, simple, effective and, given its piecemeal gestation, admirably cohesive. The opening title track combines a number of Deacon Blue signatures – a swagger to the rhythm, an ache to the vocals, an uplift to the arrangement – with the bonus feature of Ricky Ross intoning on the verses like a Caledonian Leonard Cohen warming to the theme of love in the time of adversity. Next comes love in a cold climate. She Loved the Snow is a winter song to snuggle up with, a comforting, cosy, breathy duet with Lorraine McIntosh. The easy rapture of their intertwined voices recalls the languid atmosphere of their 2009 McIntosh Ross album, The Great Lakes, recorded in the US with the cream of Americana players. This album is buffed up with more of a pop sheen, but the beguiling spirit remains the same, with a laidback southern soul feel to Send Out a Note. This last number is a call to call out in times of trouble, while there is further empathy in Ross’s beseeching falsetto assurance that “there’s nothing to be scared of, no reason to fear” on Nothing’s Changed. In a year where everything changed, Deacon Blue are determined to be a safe haven.'

Chrissie Hynde - Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan: A mini-genre of music has emerged in recent years: Bob Dylan tribute records from excellent female singers. Joan Osborne, Bettye LaVette, and Emma Swift have all made great contributions since 2017, but Chrissie Hynde, with her new album, Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan, may have achieved mastery. Made with Pretenders bandmate James Walbourne, via text messages during the pandemic lockdown, Standing in the Doorway is a rich experience of emotional and intellectual profundity. The eternal truth and power of Dylan’s lyrics, full of ancient wisdom and poetic dexterity, resonate with dramatic force. It is as if these songs are the chorus parts in a classical Greek tragedy, observing the consequences of human folly while also signifying the potential for deliverance. All four of Dylan’s recent celebrants demonstrate why his songs deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature.' 'The restraints of the lockdown work in her favor, as limited accompaniment — acoustic guitar, piano, mandolin, slide guitar — give the nine songs a hypnotic cohesion. Her curation is also inspired. There is not one “hit” on Standing in the Doorway. Instead, Hynde deftly leads her listeners through unique renditions of some of Dylan’s best and most obscure songs.' 'Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan rises out of the conditions of disease, chaos, and deprivation to document and exercise aesthetic and philosophic beauty. That’s one definition of hope.'   

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

In January I'll be talking with Delvyn Case about rock and pop songs for Lent, Easter and Christmas. The latest series of Jesus Is Just Alright for HeartEdge will look at rocking the Church calendar. Register for the series here. 

My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.

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The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus - Songs of Yearning.

Top Ten 2020

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2020:

Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You: '... you just need to turn it up really loud on a long, fast drive through a heartbroken summer night to hear Springsteen for the damaged hero he is. But that ensemble euphoria does work best live, when the bass is rattling through the blood and bones of hundreds of collected humans. The live recording of this record really helps deliver that communal feeling. They feel so present and close that listeners might feel they’re violating the pandemic rules. They rollick through the “Janey Needs a Shooter” and the Dylanesque “Song for Orphans”, both of which Springsteen wrote back in 1973. But it’s the new material that really catches fire. The band blaze through “Ghosts” and “Last Man Standing”, with “House of a Thousand Guitars” soaring above the lot. Driven by the supple rise and fall of a hymnal piano melody, the song is a commentary on songwriting. Springsteen, who’s been wonderfully frank about his lifelong struggle with depression, expresses solidarity with other writers “bitter and bored” who “wake in search of the lost chord”. As the champion of the working Americans who’ve been sold out by the Trump presidency, he delivers a verse on “the criminal clown” who has “stolen the throne”. But he offers the communion of music as a way to rise above and beyond material misery.'

Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways: '“I sing the songs of experience like William Blake,” Bob Dylan growls, introducing his 39th epistle on the follies, frustrations and secret strengths of a species at war with itself, “I’ve got no apologies to make.” He’s the rebel poet, approaching twilight, laying out generations of hard-earned wisdoms with no punches pulled and no regrets. At 79, following a trio of covers albums of American standards largely associated with Sinatra, you might expect Dylan to make a world-worn and contemplative sort of record, but one that had little left to say. Instead, with ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’, he’s produced arguably his grandest poetic statement yet, a sweeping panorama of culture, history and philosophy peering back through assassinations, world wars, the births of nations, crusades and Biblical myths in order to plot his place in the great eternal scheme. Rough? Perhaps, but it certainly has the warmth and lustre of the intimate and home-made. And rowdy? Dylan’s sure been rowdier ... Instead he requires of his band just a series of soft and simple canvasses, woven largely from gentle spiritual, lustrous country, Southern blues or gothic Americana – often resembling enclosed, traditionally structured atmospheres rather than songs – onto which he can project his sprawling literary visions of death, degradation and the horrors of history.'

Deacon Blue - City Of Love: 'They continue to conjure anthems that celebrate love, work, faith, hope, going out, and coming home ... we find Ricky Ross writing from a more personal – and maybe more vulnerable – viewpoint than before. City of Love seeks out the quiet moments, far from the bombast. From the solace of shared candle-light (the glorious, Fleetwood Mac-invoking 'In Our Room') to the solitude of nature (the gospel-rock of 'A Walk In The Woods'), it is poignant, pensive, yet never maudlin. If 'Intervals' stunning, astral pop reminds us of the ticking clock ('so little time'), then the swoon-inducing soul of 'Come On In' urges us to make the most of our days, and nights.'

Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension: Stevens 'felt inspired to create a whole record that examined the world he was living in, questioning it when it felt wrong and “exterminating all bullshit“. The sprawling results of this personal interrogation, which play out over a glitchy 80 minutes, serve as a powerful dissection of modern humanity. Filled with universal anguish and anxieties, ‘The Ascension’ ... takes a weary look at the outside world and out comes a deep sigh ... anxious instrumentals echo the album’s uneasy outlook and fear of the future, and when they combine forces it often makes for an astonishing listen. The world is pretty shitty at the moment and it’s easy to feel helpless, but as the horror show that is 2020 continues to rumble on, ‘The Ascension’ is yet another ample soundtrack to rage-dance to.'

Gregory Porter - All Rise: 'It’s not all just about that great voice. Gregory Porter also has a mighty generosity of spirit, plus empathy, warmth and optimism. And he has gathered a superb team around him to make a strong album with plenty of scale and depth ... All these contributions weave around Porter himself and strengthen what he does. The singer has written of “Revival Song”, written in memory of Freddie Gray, the 25-year old who died in police custody in Baliimore in 2015: “It’s about finding your source of strength to bring you back to seeing who you truly are so that you can be restored to the giant that you are.” That is what Gregory Porter, with help from some fine musicians has achieved with All Rise in 2020.'

Michael McDermott - What In The World: 'Chicago born McDermott’s poetic reflections on the parlous predicament of American politics and humanity in general always repay closer investigation, and “What in the World..” must rank as his most compelling offering to date. The Dylanesque title track points an accusing finger at the inhumanities perpetrated by the Trump regime via a tumbling flood of memorable lyrical images, contrasting beautifully with the much more low key charms of “Positively Central Park” and “New York,Texas,” a subdued gem strongly reminiscent of “Nebraska” era Springsteen at his brilliant best.'

Scott Stapp - The Space Between the Shadows: 'This album is powerful, it is beautiful and I can guarantee that every person reading this will be able to relate to the lyrical content throughout…we have all fought our demons to one extent or another but Scott has laid his soul bare and I am sure he is a very different man from the one prior to writing and recording The Space Between the Shadows. The album title tells a story of its own and although this is as dark as hell it is also full of light, hope and redemption. Scott Stapp is back and I lay odds he is better, stronger and much wiser than before.'

Bill Fay - Countless Branches - 'Countless Branches is the third of Fay's later-period albums, following Life Is People (2012) and Who Is the Sender? (2015). It might just be the best, too. It's palatable and concise, comprising ten tracks with bonuses pushing the total to 17. An incorrigible grouch might bridle at these guileless, gently philosophical songs, but they're delivered with such obvious sincerity that the rest of us will be charmed. As ever, Fay focuses on the search for meaning and substance in everyday life.'

Buddy & Judy Miller - 'Breakdown on 20th Avenue South': '... out of the ashes of loss, abandonment and melancholy, the songwriter has emerged like a phoenix for the sizzling Breakdown on 20th Ave. South (New West Records), the couple’s first duet record since 2009’s Written in Chalk. As much a testament to faith and forgiveness as it is a pulsating chronicle of a marriage beset by physical and emotional challenges, the album, which takes its name from the Music Row-adjacent street on which the couple resides in Nashville, ranks among the year’s finest.' 

The Innocence Misson - 'See You Tomorrow': Don Peris says, “There is a longing there to be transformed and a hopeful expectation that it is possible,” he explains. “I find joy, or a similar type of joy, in all of the songs,” he concludes. “A humble recognition of challenges and hardships, the acknowledgment and comfort in knowing that they are both personal and universal, and the expression of light and hope.” 'Focusing on the world that exists within our own heartbeats, The Innocence Mission has created a disc that finds truth in the connections binding us to each other. See You Tomorrow radiates a sense of love and warmth to help us through moments when those same commodities may be in short supply.'

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

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Bill Fay - Filled With Wonder Once Again.

Top Ten 2019

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2019:

Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka - 'Kiwanuka is a contemplative song cycle intended to be listened to in one extended sitting ... At the core is Kiwanuka’s inner battle between anxiety, self-doubt, spirituality and wisdom, which is then set against racism and rueful glances at the state of the world ... for all its melancholy, Kiwanuka is never downbeat. There are moments – such as the “Time is the healer” gospel choir in I’ve Been Dazed, or hopeful closer Light – when positivity bursts through with such dazzling effect you want to cheer. Kiwanuka is a bold, expansive, heartfelt, sublime album. He’s snuck in at the final whistle, but surely this is among the decade’s best.'

Ghosteen by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - 'Ghosteen drips melody like the permanent rain. It oozes emotion from a heavy heart. It embraces the frailty of the human soul. It’s full of poetry and images that switch sometimes from the time honoured embrace of Elvis and Jesus and the icons and articles of faith whether they are god or rock n roll to a yearning deeply soulful of a very personal heartbreak with a powerful honesty and lyrical nakedness reflecting a genuine darkness and intimate honesty that is a step deeper into the personal and the intimate that is compelling and hypnotic and with an almost ambient atmospheric music to match.'

Thanks for the Dance by Leonard Cohen - Thanks for the Dance 'Opener Happens to the Heart reflects on [Leonard Cohen's] career with trademark humility: “I was always working steady, I never called it art. I got my shit together, meeting Christ and reading Marx” ... Like those of Marvin Gaye and Prince, Cohen’s oeuvre sought to reconcile the spiritual and the sensual, which both feature heavily again ... As the pace slows to a transcendent crawl and backing vocals form a heavenly choir, The Hills mocks his ageing body (“The system is shot / I’m living on pills”) and the stunning The Goal finds him “almost alive” and “settling accounts of the soul”. The last poem he recorded, Listen to the Hummingbird, implores us to find beauty in God and butterflies: “Don’t listen to me.” And, finally, there is a vast, empty silence, and he is gone.'

We Get By by Mavis Staples - 'Over half a century after her voice was at the forefront of America’s civil rights era, Mavis Staples is still crying out for Change. The bluesy backbeat opening track of her 12th studio album confronts recent shootings in the US before she concludes, brilliantly, “What good is freedom if we haven’t learned to be free?”... It’s not hard to guess the subject of such pointed lines such as “Trouble in the land. We can’t trust that man.” Elsewhere, there are songs of loss, need, faith and devotion.'

Hotel Last Resort by Violent Femmes - 'More than three decades on from their 1983 debut, Violent Femmes have dished up another audio delight of front-porch folk ... The band’s juvenile charisma imbues every lyric, from a biblical satire in Adam Was a Man to humble love song Everlasting You, but Paris to Sleep is the heartbreaking hero: “Losing lost love is not worth losing for.” Deeply intuitive with a sprinkle of absurdity, the Violent Femmes’ new recipe is pure joy.'

Jaimie by Brittany Howard - 'Jaime is named after Howard’s sister, who taught her to play piano and died of cancer when she was eight years old – but “the record is not about her”, she said in a recent interview. “It’s about me.” A platter of psychy soul, gospel and funk, with melodies that tap and jitter like Morse code or pour out like silky caramel, Jaime is about tragedy, sexuality, religion, racism and poverty – all things with which Howard is uncomfortably familiar.'

Love & Revelation by Over The Rhine - 'Love & Revelation, an album of loping ballads and probing lyricism that addresses grief, loss and what it means to be an American in a conflicted country. “Let You Down” is a devastating promise to never abandon someone, with the understanding that inevitably they will do just that. “Betting on the Muse,” inspired by the writer Charles Bukowski, wrestles with finding a life’s second act after a person peaks. And “Los Lunas” is a haunting poem about a tearful drive to reckon with saying goodbye ... “The very first words you hear on the project are ‘I cried,'” says Detweiler, citing the opening lyric. “When I told my 87-year-old mother about it, she said that sounds like the Psalms.” But Love & Revelation, and the band itself, is ultimately about restoration and perseverance.'

High as Hope by Florence + the Machine - 'Welch reinforces her magnificent emoting with contemplative, intimate lyrics; the musician beckons people into her interior world with no hesitation and no cushion. “The show was ending, and I had started to crack,” Welch trills to open the album, her voice dominant above barely perceptible chords. “Woke up in Chicago and the sky turned black.” Despite that initial ominous note, High As Hope soon evolves into a treatise on what it means to embrace second chances, while trusting other people—and, more important, yourself. The cello-burnished “100 Years” exhibits a healthier approach to love and faith (“Give me arms to pray with instead of ones that hold too tightly”) while “Grace,” written as a mea culpa to Welch’s younger sister, asks forgiveness for youthful indiscretions.'

Western Skies by Bruce Springsteen - 'Western Stars ... is populated by characters past their best – the title track’s fading actor, reduced to hawking Viagra on TV and retelling his stories for anyone who’ll buy him a drink; Drive Fast’s injured stuntman recalling his youthful recklessness, the failed songwriter of Somewhere North of Nashville and the guy glumly surveying the boarded-up site of an old tryst on Moonlight Motel – all of them ruminating on how things have changed, not just for the worse, but in ways none of them anticipated.'

Three Chords and the Truth by Van Morrison - 'There’s a warmth here that recalls his ’90s highwater marks, Hymns to the Silence and The Healing Game, and connects even farther back in time to 1971’s Tupelo Honey, which balanced the charms of domesticity with R&B raves ... “It’s called ‘the flow,’” Morrison said in a recent interview, detailing his optimal conditions for making music. “I don’t know the mechanics of how that works. I just know when I’m in it.” “The flow” makes Three Chords and The Truth a deeply pleasurable listen, but it’s the moments where Morrison sounds less settled that carry the most weight. The album’s third song, “Dark Night of the Soul,” never wanders as far out as epics like “Madame George” and “Listen to the Lion,” nor does it match spaced-out gloss of his ’80s albums with trumpeter Mark Isham, but it’s gripped by the same existential fervor. Its mellow heat has a lot in common with 1997’s “Rough God Goes Riding,” a gentle midtempo cut with apocalyptic visions hiding in plain sight. Revisiting the 16th-century Christian mystic St. John of the Cross’ poem about the unknowability of God, one he’s sung about a number of times before, Morrison showcases the way his twilight years haven’t dimmed his yearning for growth, his desire for a deeper understanding.'

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

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Violent Femmes - Everlasting You.

Top Ten 2018

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2018:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Wrong Creatures: "Darkness and despair resonate across Wrong Creatures, the new album by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, as it evokes death and an attitude confronting loss and its effects in life. Wrong Creatures takes on loss and pain with emotional depth and imaginative arrangements, documenting a dark attitude despite fear and despair growing across its deep tracks and musical explorations." (popMATTERS)

Robert Plant - Carry Fire: "With a title that evokes primal discovery and heroic burden, Carry Fire finds Plant nuancing the mystic stomp of yore for darkening times. “New World…” is a wearily surging “Immigrant Song” for the age of xenophobic travel bans; “Bones of Saints” surges with “Going to California” promise, then becomes an anthem against mass shootings. The overall feel is at once ancient and new, cutting Led Zeppelin III‘s Maypole majesty with the Velvet Underground’s careful guitar violence (see the “All Tomorrow’s Parties”-tinged “Dance With You Tonight”), and the patient power of Plant’s golden-god-in-winter singing can be astonishing." (Rolling Stone)

Joy Williams - Venus: "There is something spine-tinglingly thrilling about “Venus,” the fourth full-length solo album from Joy Williams, but the first since the 2014 demise of her Grammy-winning roots duo Civil Wars. You can actually hear the California native, a former contemporary Christian-pop singer, discover who she is as she moves through this unsparingly intimate, deeply moving 11-song cycle. If fans and critics argued about which genre the Civil Wars should be slotted into — folk? country? Americana? — the debate should be less confusing now that Williams has fully embraced her inner Kate Bush (and Peter Gabriel and Portishead), zooming into the present with an ambient sound that elegantly threads together folk authenticity, pop instincts, and trip-hop grooves. Whether standing inside her aching heart in the dramatic “Until the Levee,” letting it bleed on the haunting piano ballad “One Day I Will,” or offering up a breathtaking “What a Good Woman Does,” Williams is never less than truthful. The album closes with the poignant “Welcome Home,” cementing the sense that Williams has found her own." (Boston Globe)

Beth Rowley - Gota Fria: A Spanish weather term 'Gota Fría' struck Rowley as the perfect album title. It describes “long periods of the clouds breaking off and remaining stationary for weeks and then sudden violent clashes of warm and cold currents. I thought it was a beautiful name, and an awesome album title, because the meaning is so bold and a perfect image of my own journey.” A heady fusion of rock, blues and Americana 'Gota Fría' is a startling rebirth, with a confidence that belies that ten-year absence ... 'Howl at the Moon' and 'Only One Cloud', evoke the swarthy drama of Led Zeppelin while 'Brother' and 'Run to the Light' are ember-glowing ballads. 'Hide from Your Love' and 'Forest Fire' splice country-folk roots with the vibe and energy of the Bristol scene that gave birth to her voice while 'Get it Back' is equal parts rock and soul and 'Brave Face' nods to the '70s west coast sound." (Rough Trade)

Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks: "Dylan is at the peak of his talents here and he captured lightning in a bottle with these songs. That’s the thing that really strikes me about this release: how damn fine these songs are ... In terms of the spare backing, it only serves to illustrate what an incredible artistic leap Dylan made here. There’s a reason why this material was considered a “comeback.” The early 70’s were an erratic muddle in terms of his output ... With this batch of songs, Dylan was inspired, focused and reinvigorated. Melodically and lyrically, this was a whole different level than he was operating on before. It’s the sound of an artist taking hold of the reins of his talents and digging his spurs in." (Soundblab)

Switchfoot - Where The Light Shines Through: "We sing because we’re alive. We sing because we’re broken. We sing because we refuse to believe that hatred is stronger than love. We sing because melodies begin where words fail. We sing because the wound is where the light shines through. We sing because hope deserves an anthem." (Jon Foreman)

Gavin Byars - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: "The names of more than 165 homeless people who died in London in the past year, were read at the Annual Service of Commemoration at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square last Thursday. The church was packed with friends, family members, homeless charity workers and volunteers. Gavin Byars [and his group played] 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet' as the congregation was invited to come up one by one and take a prayer card with the name of one person who died." Byars' "anthem for the homeless" "began as a 26-second recording of a nameless rough sleeper." "What makes Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet such a lasting treasure is that, through it, a nameless old man continues to live, as vividly and stoically as one of Samuel Beckett’s homeless characters ... He is confirmation of Beckett’s understanding that “the tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, someone somewhere else stops.”

Mavis Staples - If All I Was Is Black: "If All I Was Was Black is an album about American perspectives and the compassion it takes to see the world from someone else’s point of view. Tweedy understands that his songwriting credits might lead some listeners to think the album represents his perspective rather than Staples’. “I don’t think I put anything in Mavis’ mouth that she didn’t want to sing,” he told the L.A. Times. “Tweedy knows me,” was her response. A singer of remarkable power and expression, Staples essentially rewrites these songs simply by singing them, imbuing each line with fine gradients of emotion and authority. She emerges as the active agent in the project, delivering these songs from her perspective as a black woman, as an artist, as a daughter and sister, even as a Christian." (Pitchfork)

Gillian Welch - Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg: "As if blown down Broadway by a summer Appalachian wind, enveloped in a melancholic hue and wrapped in a dust-stained blanket, you’d be forgiven for thinking Gillian Welch comes from an earlier time – down from the hills to kickstart a roots revival. Yet, despite looking like she’d been lifted straight off a Gatlinburg porch, Welch arrived in Nashville from LA – Dave Rawlings, her partner, hails from Rhode Island – in search of some kind of rural spiritual awakening after time spent in goth and surf-guitar bands. It didn’t take long for the pair to make their mark and, with the release of their debut album Revival in 1996, start a musical partnership that still remains as strong, vital and nigh-on essential some 20 years later. Made up in essence of outtakes, demos, and alternate takes, Boots No.1 is a welcome twin-album celebration of one of Americana’s benchmark recordings. Producer T Bone Burnett’s trademark sound oozes from every pore, and there’s magic afoot from the off." (Country Music)


Michael McDermott - Out From Under: Since his debut album, 620 W. Surf back in 1991 (when he was tarred with the new Dylan curse), McDermott has released a further ten albums (this is his eleventh) as well as two with Heather as The Westies, the quality of his writing and delivery never dipping. For whatever reason, for two decades, they failed to connect with audiences and constant rejection caused him to question himself and led him into a self-destructive spiral. But then, already turning his life around, with 2016’s Willow Springs everything seemed to click, critically and commercially. The confidence may have faltered, but the talent never has and now, finally, they are aligned and, both personally and musically, he’s become the man he was always meant to be. As he sings on Never Goin’ Down Again, “For the first time it feels, I’m odds on to win.” I’ve placed my bet." (folk radio)

Previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

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Gillian Welch - Old Time Religion.