Maple Glider: I Get Into Trouble review – delicate songs of rage and religious trauma
The Melbourne singer-songwriter’s second album catalogues the aftershocks of her Christian upbringing – and moments of joy in between
Sufjan Stevens: Javelin review – US indie folk hero hits every target
The singer-songwriter’s 10th album fuses his acoustic and electronic impulses to stunning effect
Ward Knútur Townes: Unanswered review – a captivating English-Canadian-Icelandic union
Born out of lockdown, the affinity between singer-songwriters Lucy Ward, Adyn Townes and Svavar Knútur bears fruit on an album of alluring melancholy
Sally Anne Morgan: Carrying review – resonant songs about nature and motherhood
The North Carolinian’s poetic lyrics, blissful vocals and thrumming banjo and fiddle combine on an album full of warmth and feeling
The Gentle Good: Galargan review – mesmerising Welsh folk songs for summer’s end
Gareth Bonello’s latest album sees him excavating his homeland’s folk classics, interpreting each with drowsy, melancholic voice, guitar, cello and piano
Boygenius review – Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus meet hysteria with humour
The US supergroup have legions of fans swooning – literally – as they crown a summer of female cultural-dominance with an epic outdoor show
Lankum review – eerie, overwhelming radical Irish folk already feels centuries old
The Mercury-nominated four-piece play every song as if they’re fighting with it, gasping for air before verses
Playing for the Man at the Door review – vital snapshot of mid-century African American music
Subtitled Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick 1958-1971, this 66-song set is full of gripping storytelling and arresting instrumentals from the American south
Julie Byrne review – elegiac ache and nuanced feelings
Two years on from the death of her friend and musical collaborator Eric Littmann, Byrne tours the album they were working on together, in a performance of mesmerising beauty
Joni Mitchell: At Newport review – years melt away in surprise folk festival recording
Her poignant return to live performance in 2022 gets a full release, and it’s a hit-filled show displaying Mitchell’s enduring warmth and wisdom
Julie Byrne: The Greater Wings review – a stunning study of love and loss
Recorded both before and after the death of a friend and collaborator, the US singer-songwriter’s new album feels as though it sits outside time and space
Various artists: A Collection of Songs in the Traditional & Sean-Nós Style review – Gaelic sadness and longing
Recorded in pubs, kitchens and community halls, these old Irish songs are a thrilling reminder that the voice needs no technology to move us deeply
Joni Mitchell review – first headline show in two decades is three hours of total joy
Many thought she might never play live again after an aneurysm, but Mitchell is in lively, fun-filled form at this all-star return in rural Washington state
Damir Imamović: The World and All That It Holds review – lightning bolts of emotion
The Bosnian musician combines Slavic sevdah, Sephardic Jewish and original songs to tell the story of two soldiers who fall in love during the first world war
Rufus Wainwright: Folkocracy review – an illustrious feelgood duet party
The songwriting polymath (and some surprising guests) goes back to his roots on this mellifluous set of folk classics