New to Vodka, Maygen & The Birdwatcher present a beautiful blend between folk stories and styles, with nods to both bluegrass and country thrown in for good measure. Enter Antidote (seen/heard here), from the band’s recent long-player Moonshine (October 2021), which is a different twist on the classic love song. Lyrically, Antidote highlights the stubborn self-sufficiency of the protagonist, which is just fine with their status alone and in control, until someone comes along with the tools to crack open the protective shell: “It’s always been my way, or no way I’ve…
Read MoreOne of Vodka’s favorite duos, Sinnober, is back to making music again! It has been quite some time since Projection (October 2018). So what’s happened to the husband and wife team since then? Well, they started a family, got caught up in the pandemic like everyone else, and simply had life to contend with. Enter Ophelia (July 2021) and you can already tell that the magic that these two create together is back 100%. Sinnober weaves a web of jazz, pop, and folk fusion that is truly unique. Ophelia features Natalie Brice…
Read MoreI’ve said before that I believed that Emily Barker’s excellent A Dark Murmuration Of Words was one of the most important albums of 2020. It stands out as a beacon of caution for everything that is going wrong with our world, but it does so beautifully, with conviction, and also with love. To compose such beautiful music, to perform it so well, and to have a cohesive message throughout, would seem like a hard act to follow. Barker seems to have acknowledged that with her reinterpretation of this excellent LP…
Read MoreA track that fell through the cracks for me back in November 2020 when it first came out, Robb Marr’s Death and Comfort (heard here), is so breathtakingly beautiful it will leave you wanting to play it again and again. It comes from his new podcast, Book Of Man, and is the first single from the LP by the same name, featuring music from the podcast, which should be out any time now. Death and Comfort was written during a time when Marr was losing his father,…
Read MoreA simple love song that absolutely exudes happiness, Beneath The Apple Tree (seen/heard here) by UK folk / Americana duo, Oka Vanga, is the type of song that is immediately infectious. It’s an ear-worm for sure, but one that you won’t find too painful if it sticks around for a while. In the heart of winter in the midst of a pandemic that just won’t go away, that’s the sort of beacon of hope that we all need! Oka Vanga is Angela Meyer and William Cox, whose…
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