There are 10 new releases in the June chart!
Amble’s debut album, Reverie, lands at No.1. This 14-track project was recorded live in only a take or two, encapsulating the Irish trio’s raw energy and authentic spirit. Each song features lithely strummed acoustic guitar and booming vocals that capture the longing for days gone by. Lead vocalist Robbie Cunningham explains, “If you listen to Reverie, you’re truly hearing who we are.”
Rising Scottish songwriter Jacob Alon’s debut album In Limerence enters at No.3. Featuring the acclaimed singles’ Fairy In A Bottle, Confession and Liquid Gold 25, the Dan Carey-produced record weaves poetic storytelling with ghostly vocals and intricate guitar work. Having earned praise from Clash, Billboard and the Times, plus an appearance on Later…with Jools Holland, In Limerence cements Alon as a singular new voice in British folk.
Machines Will Never Learn To Make Mistakes Like Me, the seventh album from Will Varley, comes in at No. 5. This project continues Varley’s decade long exploration of the human condition, while conjuring strange, beautiful landscapes. Alongside friend and co-collaborator Tom Farrer, Varley has added rich, luscious production to this album that compounds the album’s feeling of hope for the future.
At No.8 lands The Wandering Hearts’ Déjà Vu (We Have All Been Here Before), a joyous, escapist and courageous reinterpretation of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 1970 touchstone Déjà Vu. Two female voices instantly put a new spin on this classic work – transforming the protest song Almost Cut My Hair into a rallying beacon of female empowerment. Intended as a loving companion to the original, a note-for-note facsimile was never going to be an option for a band as distinctive as The Wandering Hearts.
Complete Fool lands at No.10, the sophomore album from alternative folk singer-songwriter Chloe Foy. This release from the English Folk Expo Artist Mentoring graduate offers a vibrant, playful and refreshingly honest perspective on long-term relationships. Foy explores some of life’s difficult questions in this beautiful, poignant, yet celebratory tribute to real life and real love.
Sam Kelly’s Dreamers Dawn enters at No.11. Composed of striking arrangements of centuries old traditional folk songs alongside deeply personal and introspective originals, this album marks an exciting milestone for Sam Kelly. After fifteen years of experience, Kelly was able to entirely self-record Dreamers Dawn and says of the album, it is his, “best, most honest material to date.”
At No. 17 is Lavina Blackwall’s highly anticipated album The Making, a rich tapestry of folk, rock and psych-power pop. The Making is a deeply personal collection of songs that have evolved over time, shaped by both hardship and joy. Written over a four-year period and recorded at The Barne Studio, the album reflects Blackwall’s journey through personal loss, artistic exploration and renewed creative energy.
At No. 22 is Skylarks by acclaimed Shropshire collective Haress. Inspired by found folk songs, the power of nature and the power of community, this release is an epic soundtrack to a world both past and future, real and imagined. The ambience and atmosphere of the recording is entirely natural, the sound of an ensemble playing live in the room around you. A choir of voices emerges, feeling euphoric and heavy. Not heavy as in metal, but heavy as in the Earth itself – a primal, joyful gut punch to the system.
At No.25 sits Odette Michell’s The Queen of the Lowlands. The award-winning performer’s second album unveils ten evocative, self-penned tracks weaving together personal and historical story songs, songs of the sea and extraordinary people. While her debut album was dubbed ‘one of the stand-out albums of 2019’ by fRoots, in The Queen of the Lowlands it is evident that Odette’s songwriting has become more sophisticated, her craft even more polished.
At No.31 enters Forefowk, Mind Me by multi-disciplinary artist and singer Quinie. To develop this album, Quinie pilgrimaged across the ancient landscapes of West Scotland with her horse and documented this unusual research process in book and film. Recorded in Highland Perthshire, the album explores how tradition needs to be constantly reconnected with, built upon, looked after and shared.
View the full chart HERE.
View the Folk Chart Of The Year 2024 HERE.
