Street date: 2009-10-19

The Kittiwakes comprise three versatile singers and musicians based in the South East of England and their debut album, Lofoten Calling, is that rarest of breeds; a folk concept album. Unlike a lot of concept albums, Lofoten Calling is concise and never feels like the music is being restricted by, or bogged down amidst the themes. Instead, the stories being spun here add a poignancy and humanity to the proceedings, and the emotive music (which is set firmly in the traditional style) provides the perfect foil. The concept of the album is based on the people, wildlife, landscape and folklore of the Lofoten Islands, the north western archipelago in arctic Norway. Bathed by the gulf stream waters and the 'Aurora Borealis', they are home to an ancient Viking culture and fishing industry. A true labour of love, the album was conceived and written by Kate Denny (sings and strings) after a visit to the area, and further research revealed that legendary horror writer Edgar Allen Poe had also found inspiration there (for his short story Descent into the Maelstrom no less). Tales of mystery and imagination indeed. As it turned out, Denny also has a personal connection to the history of the Islands; her Grandfather's ship The Arethusa was part of the first major British action there in WW2. The picture is made complete with the able assistance of Jill Cumberbatch (violin, mandolin, octave mandola, guitar, vocals) and Chris Harrison (piano accordion, piano vocals). From shanty-inspired rousing tunes, through intricate three-part harmonies and finely arranged, haunting, Winterset-esque songs, Lofoten Calling displays an acute sense of what's at the heart of the British folk tradition and brings it sailing into the 21st century with an honesty and playfulness that is at once enchanting, touching and irresistible.

Street date: 2009-04-06

The story of this release goes back to a brief exchange between Owl Service main man Steven Collins and Alison O'Donnell (of the legendary Irish prog-folk group Mellow Candle) on a social networking website in the Spring of 2007. The Fabric of Folk is a collision between two ages of folk- rock; Alison was intrigued by the sound of The Owl Service, Steven had been in awe of Swaddling Songs for many years and so a collaboration seemed inevitable. Fabric contains two original Collins/O'Donnell compositions (one with lyrics penned by Dominic Cooper of the Straw Bear Band), a short instrumental interlude, and two traditional reworkings. The original songs bookend the EP in perfect fashion and Alison's treatment of the traditional material in between is masterful. From the ominous opening track The Wooden Coat to the epic finale The Fabric of Life, the listener is taken on a journey through themes of life and death, all handled with a pathos and poignancy so rarely heard in modern folk music.

Street date: 2009-03-23

Of Irish and Romany gypsy descent, Ellen Mary McGee was born the year that John Lennon and Alfred Hitchcock died and grew up on a notorious council estate in the Midlands amongst used syringes and burnt out Ford Cortinas. She would regularly escape into the nearby stately homes and parks of Newstead Abbey and Sherwood Forest, caught between the spirits of Lord Byron and Maid Marion. She taught herself to play a beaten up nylon stringed acoustic guitar acquired at a local car boot sale at 15 years old. She sings of transient characters she has known, loved and lost. She sings of the darkness on the edge of town and the blood of others, caught between the bright lights of the city and the pastoral yearning for a simpler less landlocked life. Inspired by the kitchen sink realism of fellow Nottingham export Alan Sillitoe and family dramas of Arthur Miller as well as the magical escapism of Jonathan Carroll, Italo Calvino and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, her music is at once literary and yet primal. Ellen plays off-kilter, transcendental folk on guitar, banjo and zither primarily. She has toured widely in the UK and US, playing at various psych/folk festivals in San Francisco, New York and Providence. Her music is steeped in folk traditions and manages to be idiosyncratic yet unaffected. Ellen has been likened to Linda Perhacs and Vashti Bunyan and sings about Greek mythology, sublimation, the ocean and metaphysics, usually involving a pretty high death toll.

Street date: 2009-01-26

As the voice of The Memory Band, Nancy Wallace will already be familiar to many. After two albums of effortless modern folk classics with The Memory Band Nancy is now finally ready to release her debut album. Her debut solo release, the Young Hearts EP from 2005, saw Nancy's appeal reach a wider audience with its canny marrying of disco anthems to a folk sound. It won the hearts of everyone who heard it and tracks from the EP have been licensed to several compilation albums. On Old Stories, traditional songs sit happily alongside Nancy's original compositions with a flow so effortless you forget which is which and the relaxed sound and simple yet rich arrangements compliment her voice perfectly. A charming modesty presides over the whole set but the one enduring thing you take away from listening to this album is that Nancy Wallace is a huge talent.