Browsing Category

Best Folk Music Blog & Promotion

Where Dust Weeps and Thunder Waits: Welcome Stranger’s Folk Reckoning in ‘When They Let Up’

With a vocal timbre that chews on gravel before spilling its soul across the mix, Welcome Stranger drag folk-stitched Americana through the thorns of emotional reckoning in When They Let Up, taken from their EP You’ll Never Mind How I Leave. The title alone sets the tone: departure is a foregone conclusion, and this track unfolds as the moment of clenching before the storm finally breaks.

Their emotive echoes of alchemy will simultaneously leave you reaching for the tissues and to turn up the volume as you envelop yourself within the artful architecture of the single that is constantly opening new stylistic doors. From the first notes of the acoustic guitars, you’d never expect to be greeted by rougher-than-Waits vocals, or how the single builds into an intricately ornate tableau before building into an augmented chest-swelling anthem of radio-worthy, foot-stomping, full-bodied catharsis. Scored with scorned emotion, arranged with sweeping euphony, rendered through succinct reflection and refined through a poetic sense of emotional intellectualism, When They Let Up is an invitation to lose yourself in sound and connect the dots rhythmically laid before you to piece together the poetry with perspective.

Welcome Stranger don’t rely on sonic frills or overplayed tropes to hit their mark; they hit harder by digging into the quieter tragedies, letting the rough-hewn vocals crack through the instrumentals like dried earth under flood. There’s more bruised beauty in a single bar than most artists summon across an album.

When They Let Up is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Luke O’Hanlon’s ‘The Parrots of Lark Lane’: A Feathered Alt-Folk Elegy to Liverpool’s Hidden Magic

Liverpool alt-indie folk singer-songwriter Luke O’Hanlon becomes a conduit for naturalism and catharsis when armed with his acoustic guitar and warmed vocal chords. Released on the 31st of March as a teaser from his upcoming LP, The River Only Flows One Way, the standout single The Parrots of Lark Lane allows listeners to witness his infatuating sensitivity—his rare ability to perceive what we usually overlook.

As the track unfurls, it evolves gracefully into a Neutral Milk Hotel-esque lo-fi arrangement, with O’Hanlon, the poet of melody, gripping his pen firmly as he writes calligraphy with his affecting sonic signature. There’s a touch of James Yorkston in the observational clarity of his lyricism; its gentle grandeur inspires listeners either to adopt a similar macro lens or simply indulge in the reverie of his unique perspective. His innate gift lies in tying personal experience to wider phenomena, creating tenderly affectionate parables of everyday existence.

O’Hanlon, known for weaving poetic storytelling with evocative melodies, continues to delve into nostalgia, survival, and the quiet poetry found in ordinary life. His latest single gracefully blends sharp observational songwriting with surreal beauty, honouring Liverpool’s iconic Lark Lane with affectionate authenticity. Through O’Hanlon’s lens, even the smallest details feel monumental.

The Parrots of Lark Lane is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Keli Woods’ ‘Around the Sun’: An Alt-Pop Anthem Illuminating Life’s Luminous Transience

Keli Woods’ latest single, Around the Sun, masterfully plunges listeners into vivid visualisations of its emotive thematic depths. Bathed in tonal warmth from the opening rays emanating from acoustic guitar strings and magnetically arresting vocals, the song immediately invites you into its temperate bliss. As the track progresses, synths scintillate grooves and beats as a funk fusion is dripped into the soul-driven earworm,  further textured by folk-esque instrumentation, amplifying Woods’ storytelling chops.

Possessing a dance-worthy chorus balanced by verses that encourage introspection, Around the Sun leaves little unfulfilled. By the outro, the track becomes a celebration, fortifying our gratitude for the fleeting sands of time and our shared human existence.

Woods, a UK-based multi-instrumentalist and former monk, distils his diverse experiences—ranging from big band swing and Vedic kirtan to musical theatre—into profoundly soulful compositions. Once poised for West End stardom at just 11 and leading a teenage jazz band touring Swansea’s streets in their whimsical ‘Jazz Ambulance’, Woods stepped away from music to seek deeper meaning through monastic life. Returning with renewed purpose, he now harnesses music as a conduit for philosophical exploration, crafting lyrical narratives that confront life’s significant questions with fearless authenticity.

With Around the Sun, Keli Woods has delivered a luminous alt-pop anthem—a reminder of our innate desire to savour existence.

Around the Sun is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Afton Wolfe – So Purple (feat. Brian Brown, Jack Vinoy Remix): A Blues-Rinsed Trip Through Psychedelic Hip-Hop Alchemy

Afton Wolfe’s latest single, So Purple, was never made for the skimmers, the distracted, or the easily satisfied. It’s a track built to grip your brainstem and hold it under a hazy, hallucinogenic spell. In the Jack Vinoy remix, Wolfe, alongside Brian Brown, brings a soul-soaked, genre-scrambling opiate for the audiophiles who don’t want their boundaries respected.

Wolfe’s vocal delivery alone is enough to trigger an inner chemical reaction. Gruff and thick with Southern blues nuance, his timbre never fights for dominance. It lounges. It drips. It carves through the synth-drenched backdrop like molasses sliding off a neon-lit glass. The production doesn’t bow to any one style—hip-hop is the main artery, but the heartbeat throbs with experimental jazz-blues fusion, swirls of soul, and psychotropic layers that wouldn’t feel out of place in a track built for a Lynchian lounge.

When Brian Brown’s rap bars slide in, they don’t disrupt the equilibrium—they challenge it. The cadence is sharp, the diction is clean, but it’s never ornamental. Brown brings the punch while Wolfe bathes you in smoke.

Vinoy doesn’t phone in his role either. His touch is the hallucinogen. Every snare, warped synth swell, and backmasked flourish is precision-placed to hypnotise. This isn’t your standard producer flex—this is a psych-laced sermon served on a vinyl platter made for the hedonistic and the heartbroken alike.

So Purple is a lucid dream on loop. It welcomes you, intoxicates you, then leaves you wondering if the high came from the sound or the space it created inside you. Wolfe is pushing past what’s comfortable, and it’s about time the rest of us caught up.

The remix is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sebastian Graysen’s ‘Heartless Man’: A Raw Folk Confession in the Eye of the Existential Storm

The debut release from folk-adjacent singer-songwriter Sebastian Graysen taps into emotional pulses with neo-classic minor piano keys before vocals enter, caught compellingly between folk troubadourism and Broadway-style breathtaking visceralism.

The contrast between instrumental restraint and the raw outpouring of pain within the vocals intensifies the affecting propensities of this timelessly classic session of existential questioning. For anyone who knows how it feels to hold far more questions than answers or struggles to find affirmations beneath dark clouds, ‘Heartless Man’ stands as the ultimate reflection of psychological entropy.

Graysen’s songwriting is the unfiltered confessional of an artist who openly admits, “I write, I scream, I feel,” channelling personal hardship and emotional turbulence into music. Based in Limerick, Ireland, Graysen draws from a potent mix of folk honesty, classical refinement, and rock’s raw immediacy, orchestrating to make sense of life but also to heal through shared resonance.

‘Heartless Man’ serves as proof that music born from personal anguish can find universal connection. With its poignant minimalism and powerful vocals, Graysen offers a track which embraces vulnerability without apology. It reaches beyond mere introspection, delivering an anthem for anyone living under existential shadows, uncertain yet yearning for release.

‘Heartless Man’ is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jack Kendrick and The Broken Wonders Cut to the Core with the Folk-Punk Candour in ‘Spoke to My Doctor’

Jack Kendrick and The Broken Wonders

With an evocative sting sharp enough to cut through the coldest souls, Spoke to My Doctor pulls all the right emotively bruising punches. Jack Kendrick and The Broken Wonders are void of pretence as they put melodies to the maladies of the modern age, distilling the agony of a system designed to manage, not mend. The alt-90s aura bleeds through every chord, carrying the weight of raw emotion as the instrumentals fuel the energy and the lyrics lay bare the disillusionment.

Emotionally, the track pivots on a knife-edge, striking with unfiltered honesty. If you’ve ever stared down the tunnel, squinting for a light that refuses to show, or placed your faith in a medical system too ill-equipped to salve the wounds it barely acknowledges, Spoke to My Doctor will hit like a gut punch. The emotion isn’t just in the words—it’s in the way every note aches, in the expressive vocals that never veer into performance for performance’s sake.

After years of relentless gigging, sharing stages with folk-punk legends like Gaz Brookfield and Ferocious Dog, Jack Kendrick has built a reputation for no-frills, high-impact storytelling. This single only cements that further, proving their ability to turn personal turmoil into a cathartic anthem.

For anyone who’s ever felt unheard, Spoke to My Doctor makes sure the message is loud and clear.

Spoke to My Doctor is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ananda Murari – Desert in the Middle: A Mirage You’ll Want to Chase

There’s plenty of sanctuary to be found in the fluidity and flora of Ananda Murari’s spiritually expressive exploration of texture and tonality in ‘Desert in the Middle’; the instrumentals alone are enough to subdue you into its sublimity. When the call of Ananda Murari’s magnetically honed vocals enters and reverberates soul throughout the release as they melancholically spill poetica epiphanies, there comes an affirmation that natural-born singer-songwriters exist—exist in the form of Murari, who carries all of the grace(land) of Paul Simon.

As the single progresses, it transitions into a divine sonic expanse where catharsis is free to savour, to cling to as you envelop yourself in Murari’s ability to paint seraphic worlds through sonorous motifs that leave gilded imprints in the soul. 

Rooted in eclectic indie folk, Murari’s work weaves ancient storytelling, raw emotional introspection, and spiritual depth shaped by his years spent living as a monk. Through his time in devotional silence, he discovered the tonal nuance and lyrical sensitivity now central to his music. The result is a rare kind of songwriting that doesn’t chase impact—it emanates it.

Drawn from his No Coins Needed project, which folds fatherhood and spiritual reintegration into every measure, Desert in the Middle reflects a new era of introspection. It is a sojourn worth taking time and time again. Whether performing solo or with his full-band collaborators, Murari makes music that doesn’t ask for your attention—it earns your surrender.

Desert in the Middle is available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

IAMCORNELIUS – Life: A Sonic Altitude Check at 35,000 Feet

IAMCORNELIUS

Life by IAMCORNELIUS escapes easy articulation and categorisation. Even if you think along the lines of electro-infused soft melodic rock-tinged folk pop with Avant Garde motifs of soul, you’ll still struggle to run in parallel with the single, which is driven by emotion instead of restrictive genre parameters.

IAMCORNELIUS doesn’t need to make a statement with his moniker when he does it so viscerally through his sound. With his consolingly gruff timbre lifting in the light of the chorus, his intricate acoustic guitar notes bleeding intimacy into the single, and the artful electronic sequences shaping its filmic soul, Life nestles you in its expansive interstellar embrace. If you’re ever caught up wondering about the meaning of life, this track doesn’t offer answers—it reflects the weight of the question in exquisite, untethered form.

Originally from Kenya and now based in Cincinnati, IAMCORNELIUS has spent a life between continents, filtering experience through a diverse musical history. He’s not confined by genre or form—his work is rooted in honesty, written for those tired of looking in the mirror and ready to search their soul.

There are no clean comparisons here. The only adequate metaphor is watching the clouds disappear from the window of a plane as you realise, with both clarity and quiet panic, just how infinite it all really is.

Life by IAMCORNELIUS is available to stream on all major platforms.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alpine Jubilee Inch Closer to the Indie Folk Pop Throne with ‘Fiver on the Favourite’

Alpine Jubilee won us over with their debut, but with Fiver on the Favourite, they well and truly conquered. Folk-tinged indie pop has rarely sounded this expansive, with flourishes tinged with psychedelia and melodies that seem to ascend endlessly. The single instrumentally invites you to a state of transcendence, while the abstract lyricism filters in, almost serving as another instrument, adding texture to the euphonic tonal masterpiece that progressively enthrals with each new nuanced transition.

Born from the creative partnership of brothers Trevor O’Neil and Glenn O’Neil, Alpine Jubilee stretches across continents, with Trevor based in Toowoomba, Queensland, and Glenn in Geneva, Switzerland. Their sound pulls together an eclectic mix of instrumentation, featuring acoustic guitar, violin, trumpet, harmonies, ukulele, mandolin, mando-cello, tin whistle, harmonica, bass, percussion, synthesisers, and even a zither. Their influences range from 80s new wave and darkwave to twee-jangle pop, contemporary nu-folk, and alt-country, and it shows in the depth of their arrangements. Joining them on the track are Flavia O’Neil on trumpet and backing vocals, Nelson O’Neil on drum programming, and Oliver Liang on violin.

If you’re sick of folk artists who bring the same old pale imitations to the table, Fiver on the Favourite is a surefire antidote to monotony.

Fiver on the Favourite is available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. For the full experience, watch the official video on YouTube. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Just Xris Painted a Sun-Soaked Memory With His Acoustic Folk Pop Debut, ‘Mother Leah’

With his debut single, Mother Leah, the up-and-coming singer-songwriter Just Xris turns nostalgia into melody, offering a vignette steeped in warmth and reverence. His folksy acoustic pop signature runs parallel to the introspective musings of Cat Stevens and Paul Simon, but the heart of his sound beats entirely in its own time. Every note lands softly, yet speaks volumes, unburdened by excessive amplification.

Rooted in childhood weekends spent on a farm called Leah near Ellisras (now Lephalale), Mother Leah is a sonic love letter to the people and places that shaped him. Those early days of exploring nature, working hard, and sharing unforgettable moments with family and friends fuel the song’s reverie-rich melodies. There’s nothing but love and adoration reverberating through the single, which allows you to imagine what Elliott Smith’s discography might sound like if it were soaked in serotonin, yet not drowning out the affecting quiescent vocal inflections.

Music has been a lifelong passion for Just Xris, first sparked at age 13 when his mother gifted him her old nylon-string guitar. After spending his teenage years playing in a band, he finally took the leap into music production, leading to the release of Mother Leah on January 21, 2025. Blending folk, country, and indie influences, his succinctly sweet melodies speak volumes without excessive embellishment. Whatever he delivers next, we will want to devour it.

Mother Leah is available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast