With its poetic lyrics and haunting melodies, contemporary folk music is, at its best, deeply evocative. The elusive genre is hard to pin down, often blending traditional acoustics with elements of everything from punk and pop to country and jazz. These are some of the best folk albums of the year so far.
Big Thief: 'Double Infinity'
"Big Thief have done it again," said Helen Brown in The Independent. The Brooklyn-based band's bassist left last year, but their sixth album "sounds like an instant classic". Combining "solidly crafted, intelligently soul-searching songs" with the group's obvious "alchemical joy in jamming together", it's a wonderful record. Among the album's "many addictive grooves" is "Incomprehensible", a thoughtful reflection on the inevitability of ageing, and "All Night All Day", which "swings along", delivering the catchiest "singalong" chorus. "Heartwarming and mind-warming, this album is a pure pick-me up."
Folk Bitch Trio: 'Now Would Be a Good Time'
"The members of Folk Bitch Trio are not blood-related, but you'd never know on the basis of their magnificent three-part harmonies", said Joe Goggins in NME. The Australian indie-folk band met in high school and are only 23. But their new album, "Now Would Be a Good Time", is infused with a "richness and complexity" that belies their age. "Sprinkled with strangeness", the darkly ironic record spans everything from "wittily drawn portraits of disastrous situationships" to "yearning from the back of the tour van". It's one of those rare debut albums that is "so accomplished that it's as if it's just fallen out of the ether, fully formed".
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Zoé Basha: 'Gamble'
This "confident" debut comes from an "exciting new voice", said Jude Rogers in The Guardian. Zoé Basha is a Dublin-based French-American musician "whose folk music swims deftly around country, jazz, French chanson and the blues". Her "nourishing" self-produced record is sung in "eerily bright a cappellas"; she has a voice that swoops "high and low like the Appalachian mountain music she loves". Among the stand-out songs are "Dublin Street Corners", a "great patchwork of failed dreams in a booze-soaked city", and "Traveling Shoes", filled with the careless ruminations of a "fly-by-night lover".
The New Eves: 'The New Eve is Rising'
The Brighton quartet's debut album is a "punk-infused, chaotic mix of experimental folk, rock music and spoken-word poetry", said Dale Maplethorpe in Far Out Magazine. It might sound "messy", but the record comes together "incredibly well" and the result is "spellbinding". Expect "stunning" vocals, carefully chosen instruments that each play a "crucial" role, and the type of music where not a second is wasted. "Wicked and endearing" in equal parts, The New Eves are "something different".
Annahstasia: 'Tether'
Annahstasia's "raw, unmistakable voice" shines on her hotly anticipated debut album, "Tether", said Laura Molloy in NME. The LA-based artist cements her reputation as a "pioneer of modern folk, propelling the genre to greater summits by weaving in moments of tense rock and intoxicating blues" in this exquisite record. "Eclectic yet streamlined", her album effortlessly blends the "poignant lyrical observations" of Joni Mitchell with the "immense vocal power" of Nina Simone. By the time you finish listening, "Annahstasia is transformed into a fully-fledged rock star".
Lisa Knapp and Gerry Diver: 'Hinterland'
Londoner Lisa Knapp has "blazed an impressive trail at the avant garde edge of British folk" since her impressive 2007 debut, said Neil Spencer in The Observer. Her "bravura vocals", coupled with her partner and producer Gerry Diver's "inventive arrangements", helped capture the "wonder and darkness of folklore". Earlier this year, the pair released their first "thrilling" official duo album. The opener, "Hawk & Crow" has Knapp at her "larkish best, giving voice to a cast of birds over a stumbling, broken rhythm", with Diver on the fiddle. This is "folk at its most exalted".
