Odette Michell – The Queen of the Lowlands [Release date 13.06.25] Bandcamp

Second studio album from Odette Michell, which includes guest musicians Chris Leslie (Fairport Convention), Phil Beer (Show of Hands), Ninebarrow and Calum Gilligan.

As Odettte says: “My approach to songwriting is to try to be authentic as possible while keeping a foothold in the folk tradition – it’s a balancing act but every song is personal to me at some level.”

Ninebarrow provide the perfect vocal accompaniment to ‘The Woodlark & the Fieldfare’, a soothing tune that also highlights Odette’s wonderfully melodious vocals. Daria Kulesh, who Odette performs with as part of Michell, Pfeiffer & Kulesh, work well together on ‘Flowers’, which despite its name is a murder ballad.

The lively ‘Lady Constance’ sits next to the mournful ‘Waterline’, inspired by pictures of rusting trawlers in the Fleetwood on the Flyde coast, destroyed by their owners to qualify for cash handouts from Brussels.

Much to enjoy on here with ‘Hourglass’, a duet with Calum Gilligan, a lovely uplifting folk song.

Odette Michell is most definitely a talent to watch and listen to on the folk scene. A finer mix of traditional folk sounds with a personal touch you’ll be hard pressed to top this year. ****

Clementine Lovell – Westbound [Release date 24.06.25] Bandcamp

Debut release from Clementine Lovell, singer and accordion player, who has enlisted a few guest musicians including Fairport Convention’s Ric Sanders and guitarist PJ Wright.

Clementine certainly opens the album with intent as her take on the traditional tune, ‘The Cuckoo’, clocks in at over seven minutes, including a superb accordion and fiddle play out. ‘Sparrow’ has an ethereal feel, whilst ‘Cottontail Hunting’ is a lively tune, almost Americana in sound.

The title track is a fine way to end the album on, featuring Ric Sanders and PJ Wright, it has a distinct Fairport sound about it in the musical arrangement.

One for those who like traditional folk singers, Clementine Lovell has a clear, distinct vocal that sometimes recalls Sandy Denny. An confident and assured debut release that bodes well for Clementine’s musical future. ***1/2

Freya Rae – Divergence [Release date 21.06.25]

Divergence is a project led by Freya Rae on flute, whistles and clarinet and she is joined by Siannie Moodie on clarsach and Tim Lane (Hidden Orchestra) on kit, percussion and the tongue drum. They are joined by Fraser Fifield (whistle, sax) and Eryan Rae (fiddle).

During lockdown in 2020 Freya Rae set herself a target of writing a new tune every week for twenty weeks. Now eleven of those tunes are now included on ‘Divergence’.

An all-instrumental affair, the album is a soothing, pleasant listen that keeps itself just out of the background music zone. Played with precision and skill, ‘Aye Yew’ is a highlight where whistle and sax combine to great effect. The sax of Fraser Fifield appears again on ‘Beetroot’, which not only wins song title of the year but is a fine piece of upbeat folk music with a jazzy vibe. ***

Reviews by Jason Ritchie

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Power Plays w/c 1 December 2025

We feature all the artists selected in this sequence in 2025.

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