The 10 best folk albums of 2024

Traditional songs in dub, Irish keening with touches of Yoko Ono and shape-note hymns with sound-processing were among the year’s records renewing an ever elusive genre

More on the best music of 2024
More on the best culture of 2024

With Welsh traditional music flourishing in experimental arrangements and settings thanks to artists such as Cerys Hafana and Lleuwen, Peiriant’s second album (its title means returning) adds to that thrilling sense of motion. Rose Linn-Pearl’s folk fiddle melodies twist and lock with the post-rock-influenced guitars and drones, played by her bandmate and husband, Dan, conjuring up the sublime, jagged landscapes of their home in the Bannau Brycheiniog of mid-Wales. Mellifluous tracks like Llethr (Slope) and Cân Idris (Idris’s Song) sit side-by-side with the compelling, twitchy textures of Gors (Swamp) and Carreg (Stone). Read the full review

Continue reading...