Dean Owens and The Sinners Our Favourite Sins Must Have Music
Dean Owens' musical output has taken him from his Edinburgh home to the desert lands of Tucson, Arizona, to collaborate with Calexico, and to the rolling hills of Tuscany, Italy, to work with Italian producer Don Antonio. His visits to the USA also found him working with household names such as Grant-Lee Phillips, Neilson Hubbard, Will Kimbrough, Al Perkins and Gaby Moreno. With over a dozen albums in his back catalogue, OUR FAVOURITE SINS cherry-picks material from those records backed by his touring band of recent years, Craig Ross (electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals), Adam McMillan (upright bass, backing vocals) and Pip Cardwell (trumpet). Owens takes lead vocals and plays nylon and string acoustic guitar.
The album was recorded live over a couple of days at Slate Room Studios outside Edinburgh, at the request of Bert Pijpers of CRS Records in the Netherlands (Owen’s record label), to allow the release of a live album of Owens’ favourite songs on Pijpers’ personal label, Must Have Music.
With seventeen songs and over seventy minutes long, the album includes recordings taken from Owens’ more recent studio albums, SINNER’S SHINE, EL TIRADITO, PICTURES and SPIRIT RIDGE, as well as selections from his earlier records. His early recordings are represented by Raining In Glasgow, originally released as a single in 2008, and The Night Johnny Cash Played San Quentin from 2012. More recently recorded songs like My Beloved Hills and The Hopeless Ghosts reflect the cosmic musical journey Owens has travelled as he continues to experiment with new sonic directions. One new song, Road Of Diamonds, also features. It’s a mid-tempo ballad and possibly a pointer toward the direction of his next project.
Although much of Owens’ recent back catalogue features rich orchestration, the selections on this album are described as ‘stripped back’,and the sound they capture as a four-piece is sublime and representative of their live shows. New Mexico, Land Of The Hummingbird and Southern Wind are just three examples of what Owens and his bandmates can create in the live setting.
If you’re already familiar with Dean Owens, you’ll no doubt add this album to your collection. If not, it’s the ideal place to start getting to know one of Europe’s most celebrated roots artists.
Declan Culliton
Kacy Lee Anderson Hello, I'm Irrelevant Earth Libraries
After more than a decade and a half in her career and an impressive back catalogue of albums with her cousin, Clayton Linthicum, Kacy Lee Anderson's latest album is her debut solo project. Kacy’s exposure to folk and early country music came about via an elderly neighbour in the remote town of Wood Mountain, a four-hour drive from Saskatchewan, who introduced her to Hank Snow and Bob Wills. Another source of inspiration came from a cassette tape of Kacy’s grandfather that introduced them to The Carter Family and Doc Watson. Fortunately, she had an ally in Clayton, who was equally drawn to the sounds of yesteryear, and the couple travelled the six miles between their houses to write and rehearse their own folk and roots interpretations of the music passed down to them. From there they first performed live on Sunday evenings to residents at a local nursing home, their only available venue.
Kacy and Clayton's raw talent didn’t go unnoticed; they went on to open for The Deep Dark Woods, The Decemberists, and Wilco and, to date, have released seven studio albums. Those albums combined Kacy’s stunning vocal range, at times recalling Sandy Denny and other times Melanie, with Clayton’s eyebrow-raising guitar skills, backing and, on occasion, lead vocals. Another string to Kacy’s bow was the band The Waverly Pickers, which included her former schoolmates Brenna Lynn Kuffner and Callie McCrea.
Fifteen years after Kacy and Clayton’s charming self-titled album, she has temporarily flown the nest with this solo album, which boasts a tongue-in-cheek title. Never one to follow industry trends, the record spans twelve tracks and continues Kacy’s habit of writing and recording what she enjoys, with little regard for mass appeal. Outdated Songs, the title of the first track, is a case in point, putting the listener on notice of what follows. Behind the song’s flippant title is a poignant statement about an unforgiving industry (“But nobody’s paying/For the songs that you’re playing/What a pity”). A sardonic, somewhat wistful eye emerges in the two tracks that follow. “Am I any good for anything? /Have I ever done right by you?” she asks with an air of defiance in Keep Quiet and How To Deal, which reflect on rejection and disappointment. Frustration and worldly concerns are aired on 40 Below (“I’m sitting in silence while the world turns to violence/ Watching fascists and satellites align”). Two ghostly atmospheric instrumentals, Much Too Young Again and Too Hot To Die, also feature.
"I didn't tell any single person I was doing it, so that made it feel just like I could do whatever I wanted," confesses Kacy, describing the thought process on the record.
Recorded at Studio Cimetière, a 169-year-old church in Quyon, Quebec, the album was recorded live over a few days, with Michael John Dubue handling production. The album may be a slight departure from the folk-and-roots vibe of Kacy’s earlier work with Clayton and others. An infectious hybrid of folk, chamber and indie pop, Dubue's piano and keys are commanding throughout. As you would expect, Kacy’s hypnotic vocals are heavenly, at times soaring and at other times calm and soothing.
Declan Culliton
Alex Amen Sun Of Amen ATO
Another young artist whose signature sound is rooted in the laid-back and acoustic-driven sounds of early 1970s Laurel Canyon, SUN OF AMEN is the debut full-length album by Texas-born Alex Amen. Amen's parents introduced him to John Denver's easy-listening sound early on, but his melody-driven output leans closer to the classic West Coast sound of Carole King and CSN&Y.
After studying piano from age four until high school, the discovery of artists like Neil Young and Nirvana shifted Amen’s attention to the guitar. Without a music career in mind, he enrolled in film college in California, intending to work as a documentary filmmaker. He abandoned that dream after one semester, realising music was his calling, not film.
He started by moving to a commune in Anaheim, Orange County, California, and forming a folk-rock band, American Slang. Living in an environment that housed like-minded music lovers, hippies and punks, an enlightening experience for a young artist, lasted eight months before he moved to Vashon, an island in Washington’s Puget Sound, improved his guitar skills by practising twelve hours a day and attended bluegrass jams until he was comfortable with his own musical competence. From there, Amen headed to an artist colony in Altadena, California, where he recorded his first batch of songs, which became his 2024 EP, SINGLES. A publishing deal with Rick Rubin’s American Songs followed, resulting in SUN OF AMEN and signing to ATO Records earlier this year for its release.
Amen self-produced the album, and while it occupies the same space as the previously mentioned Carole King and CSN&Y, he put his individual stamp on it. Much of the material sounds like songs the listener may already have in their memory bank; Amen’s vocals are terrific, matched by the production and instrumentation. The songs' backgrounds include recollections, sometimes charming, others isolated, of his time on Vason Island. Cabin By The Sea, one of several album highlights, is a case in point, with smooth acoustic guitar and clever pedal steel breaks. Diamonds is a stunning love song; again, the guitar and pedal steel stand out alongside tender piano, as if it were plucked from the Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell songbook. From a similar place, California Blues sounds like it's been around forever, with hushed backing vocals supporting Amen’s smooth voice. His piano skills are to the fore on the hushed song of lost love, Memories Of You (“I go out with other lovers / But it just ain't no use /Ain't no doubt about it / Might as well shout it / I'm still in love with you”), which also benefits from the addition of strings. The background to Her Spirit Wanders derived from his enchantment with female hikers he met while hiking and climbing, during summers exploring Yosemite National Park in California.
Alongside artists like Sylvie (Ben Schwab) and Will Worden, Amen has drawn inspiration from the easy-listening sounds of previous decades. In doing so, he has crafted a collection of quality songs not often found on debut albums, one that is smile-inducing from start to finish.
Declan Culliton
Ella Hooper Overnight Success Self-Release
In a parallel career, Australian Ella Hooper, along with her brother Jesse, is part of the folk-pop band Killing Heidi. Ella was the first woman and youngest artist to be named APRA’s (celebrating excellence in Australian contemporary music) Songwriter of the Year in 2001. OVERNIGHT SUCCESS is Hooper’s fourth solo album, co-produced with her fellow Australian LOLLIES (alias Clare Reynolds), who now lives and works in Nashville. Other production contributors include Sam Hawksley, Jeremy Dylan, and Michael Hubbard.
Working with a host of Nashville top players and songwriters, including Jim Lauderdale, Rachel Baiman, Steve Poltz, Melody Walker, and Fred Eltringham, to name a few, the album’s title is somewhat tongue-in-cheek for an artist who has been performing and recording since her early teens. Less playful are several of the tracks written after a series of hardships Hooper had to overcome, including losing both her parents to cancer and the breakup of a long-term relationship. She recalls her parents fondly in Die Happy with a thumbs up to their influence and support (“My mama and daddy passed away not too long ago / Well they gave me this language that speaks straight to my soul”).
Reflections on past experiences, some positive and some foolhardy, are front and centre, and no less so in Just Along For The Ride. Spurred on by ‘living the life’ regardless of the consequences, it’s a killer song with an addictive melody and sparse pedal steel weeping in the background. The writer also looks back at her former self with the upbeat Growing Up Is Hard To Do, and two inclusions, Bad Word and Cowboy Man, visit emotionally raw terrain, both aimed at a former suitor, real or imagined. She’s also spitting fire in I Got Eyes (On You), pointing her finger at a less-than-deserving playboy.
The title track bookends the album on a resilient and buoyant note, with Hooper closing the book on past memories and striding forward remodelled and well placed for life’s next challenges (“No, there’s no such thing / But you know who you are / Don’t gotta prove anything / You can dazzle and shine/Like that sequin dress / And you can burn right down like a cigarette / Just a trick of the light”).
OVERNIGHT SUCCESS spans genres from modern country to rock. Hooper's voice is fine throughout, and the songwriting comes from the heart. For me, it's like Carlene Carter's early 90s albums, which blended country and rock seamlessly without ever crossing over into lacklustre mainstream. An instantly rewarding listen.
Declan Culliton
Sylvie New Season Ghostly International
If Ben Schwab’s (aka Sylvie) 2022 self-titled debut album owed a debt to the early 1970s sounds emanating from Los Angeles, his latest album, while also honouring the country/pop crossover sounds from that period, has moved location to resemble what was coming out of Nashville around that time. Nashville may not have seemed ‘cool’ to the West Coast at the time. However, decades later, music scribes are more complimentary of some of that period's classic artists, like Glen Campbell and Roger Miller.
Sylvie is Schwab’s innovation and essentially a moving-parts project, with several guest artists contributing to his recordings. Recorded at his Silver Lake home studio in California with like-minded artists, this nine-track album, produced by Schwab, features no fewer than ten guests adding their vocals to the recordings. Established names like Courtney Marie Andrews, Kacy Lee Anderson, and Sierra Ferrell join lesser-known and emerging talents such as Will Worden and Alex Amen, both previously featured on Lonesome Highway. Schwab adds his vocals on a few selections, and other vocal contributors also include Asher Kartman, Hunter Watts, Keven Lareau and Rhia Taranto.
Schwab spent a lot of time in Nashville exploring the current and retro country scene there and, although he will tour the album as lead vocalist going forward, felt the need to recruit what he considered the newer breed of classic vocalists. As a result, the first voice we hear is Will Worden's cover of D’Arcy Draper’s 1972 "Are You Coming", setting the scene for the laid-back, easy-listening sound that follows. Worden also shares writing credits with Schwab and Allyson Yarrow Pierce on Not Looking Back Anymore. It has a gentle soul sound, with Schwab taking the lead vocal, echoing the sounds of Todd Rundgren's classic SOMETHING ANYTHING double album.
The women’s contributions are also immense, including the angelic voices of Kacy Lee Anderson on Wish I Could Tell You and Sierra Ferrell, setting aside her customary Americana hat for the string-kissed Countrypolitan California Hills. Temporarily shifting to a 70s West Coast vibe, Courtney Marie Andrews beautifully delivers the hymn-like Guiding Star.
Schwab’s childhood found him surrounded by his father’s music, introducing him to an eclectic mix that included jazz and a wealth of The Beatles. Schwab’s father’s 1970s band, Mad Anthony, modelled on country-rock bands like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, is recalled on the album with their song Rina, featuring lead vocals by Alex Amen.
Much more than the sum of its parts, the aptly titled NEW SEASON pays homage to a genre, call it soft rock, easy listening, or whatever, that was often dismissed at the time. This record, and the contributing vocalist and players, offer a masterclass in balancing that genre's simplicity and sophistication.
Declan Culliton
Laura Cortese Lucky Water Compass
“I’ve been living in Belgium for almost a decade now, I’m married, and mother to two young children, as well. To say my perspective on life has changed would be a real understatement,” explains Laura Cortese, the California-born singer, songwriter and fiddler, on the personal circumstances that fuelled her first album since she released BITTER BETTER in 2020 with her band, The Dance Cards.
Those life-affirming changes feed into this ten-track album, placing it firmly in the Americana pigeonhole with its mix of folk, roots, and indie country. A fiddle player from an early age, Cortese was absorbed by Celtic and Scottish music before studying at Berklee College of Music. Those early influences led her to teach courses and workshops on preserving folk music at Limerick University in Ireland and Newcastle University in the UK. That devotion to Celtic-styled fusions emerges in the tracks Starry Ceiling and Half Mile Away, alongside Cortese’s self-styled sonic explorations.
Closer to traditional folk is the fiddle instrumental Calling Across The Lake (Reprise), preceded earlier in the album by a gorgeous, gentle piano-led ballad of the same name, with Cortese fondly recalling a simpler pace of life in her childhood days.
Other highlights include the album’s opening track, Face The Rain, which grew from a request from her young daughter to "go out and try and find a rainbow," and two songs that delve into more intense affairs. The ongoing wars in both Palestine and Ukraine and their devastating effects are visited in Half Mile Away, and the shocking distress of parents during wartime is confronted in the stripped-back Hush Now Child.
Writing the songs from her Belgian home, Cortese recorded the album in North Carolina after completing a tour of America. Over five days with producer LOLLIES (Clare Reynolds), she fleshed out the songs and brought them to life with help from her longtime friend and multi-instrumentalist, Matt Douglas.
Drawing on songs that reference Cortese’s more recent life, along with moments from her early years, she has crafted a delightfully engaging listen.
Declan Culliton
The Southern Fold Beneath the Blaze of the Burning Sun Juke Joint 500
The brainchild of Emlyn Holden, The Southern Fold was formed in Kilkenny in 2014 and, following the release of their mini album A TRUE ASCENSION FROM THE WAYWARD PATH in 2016, they released their debut full-length album BIBLE FEAR three years later. Well received in press circles, the album established the band as an archetypal Gothic country outfit, with Holden’s dark lyrics straying from damnation to salvation and fusing melancholy with religious frustration. With Holden sharing vocals with Laura Hand, comparisons to The Handsome Family and collaborations with Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan came to mind.
Since that debut record, the lineup has changed, with only two original members remaining in the current band: Holden and bass player Brian McGrath, formerly of the popular but now defunct Kilkenny group The Midnight Union Band. Holden’s new vocal partner Madeleine Leclézio was recommended by the band’s guitarist Stephen Doohan (Blackbird and Crow), who, with Leclézio, was a student at BIMM Music Institute in Dublin. The fifth band member, Cillian Galloway, plays drums.
BENEATH THE BLAZE OF THE BURNING SUN finds the band in a more experimental mood than its predecessor, without straying too far from the dark, moody and atmospheric undertones of their previous work. Holden and Leclézio’s vocals are faultless throughout the album, and no more so than on Before the Fall. Capturing unease and unrest, it’s both haunting and unsettling (“For so long I’ve loved her and I promised to forever more/But life has lived so long since we began/Oh, the summer sun has turned winter rain/The sky from blue to clouds of grey”) but equally melodic to the extent that it should attract radio play.
The Sacred & Saving Light opens with over two minutes of percussion and cello before Holden and Leclézio’s vocals kick in with a mystic tale of regret and remorse (“Last of the lovers shook his head and solemnly exhaled /Right down to the barest bones of his final will and wake /And a Sunday morning lingers on/Like a fairweather live-in friendly song”). Like a parent welcoming home a wayward child with open arms, Nothing to Fear unfolds a thread of forgiveness and support.
Darker than midnight and dripping with ghostly atmosphere, My Opened Mind runs over the eight-minute mark. It’s an intoxicating affair, combining Holden’s weather voice with Leclézio's ghostly backing vocals, hazy guitar, hypnotic bass, and cello.
A totally unexpected, quirky and inspired inclusion is One More Time. The song could have been plucked from Marlene Dietrich’s songbook, with Leclézio taking a sultry lead vocal, joined by cello, flugelhorn and a delightful trombone break in what is best described as classic 1930s cabaret.
Undoubtedly one of Ireland’s best-kept musical secrets, if there’s any justice, BENEATH THE BLAZE OF THE BURNING SUN should introduce The Southern Fold to a wider audience both at home and overseas, alongside their local devoted fan base.
Declan Culliton
David Coller Blue Water Upstart Yankee
Earlier this year saw the release of a prior album from David Coller, titled When Summer Comes. This new addition is entirely focused on the theme of sailing and the maritime life. A love of the sea resulted in Coller owning a schooner for many years and these ten songs are capturing his passion for the ocean. Production is by Mark Dann who also plays bass and sings and the album which was recorded at Woodstock, New York. Diane Chodkowski, who is the life- partner of David, again sings harmony vocals and she is joined by Sara Milonovich (fiddle), Brian Mitchell (accordion), Rusty Park (accordion), Erik Parker (drums), and Patty Deneen (hammered dulcimer).
Whaling is the topic on Captain, My Captain, a practice that is largely banned internationally these days. The Rigger’s Apprentice is a sea shanty performed acapella and celebrates the voyage that is about to be undertaken by the crew in the morning. Diggin’ For Clams is something that would be seen in any seaside town of a morning, whether families out for some fun experiences, or those who make a living from the sea creatures who stock our shop shelves and restaurant menus.
We’re Sinkin’ is a song that also appears on that earlier album this year, and it’s a short, tongue-in-cheek ditty, clever wordplay and a joyous performance. A traditional song is included and Roseanna has another group vocal and the tale of leaving of a loved one to take to sea. Love On A Lea Shore traces the story line of a couple who meet through mutual loneliness but who want different things from any likely union – ultimately, the call of the sea proving too great to ignore.
Just Another Day highlights the easy fingerstyle guitar of David Coller and his soothing vocal delivery is very much part of this album. The song recounts a sailor who finds himself alone on the open sea and floating under a sunny sky as his boat sinks. A love of all things related to the vast waters of our planet is certainly a big help, but the songs do stand the test to those of us who prefer to keep our feet firmly planted on the solid ground.
Paul McGee
The Sweet Sorrows Ballads Self Release
Welcome to the (very) creative world of Sammy Horner and his duo The Sweet Sorrows. It’s essentially a powerful combo of Sammy and his very talented wife, Kylie, at the creative source, who anchor everything, and who record with an array of guests that populate the many releases that form part of an impressive body of work. Sammy has had a successful solo career as a producer, writer and performer, in addition to being a founder member of The Electrics. He has played shows with Kylie around Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, Thailand and South Africa. And with over forty albums in his body of work, he has received great critical acclaim over the years.
Kylie was born in Australia and as a couple they now make Ireland their home. Both She and Sammy also carry out regular charity work in countries such as South Africa, Thailand, India, Romania and Ukraine. Sammy is a trained electrician, teacher and ordained minister, and Kylie has 3 decades experience as a registered nurse with diverse/tribal people groups in different settings. They live a life in service of others and in celebration of the great gift of music as the universal communicator.
Together they also oversee the successful Mercyland Songwriting Festival in the local Wexford town of Gorey. Founded by Sammy and Grammy Award-winning musician Phil Madeira. Mercyland brings together songwriters from Ireland and abroad for a week of creativity, collaboration, and music. While much of the festival focuses on songwriting sessions for participants, several special events are open to the public, giving locals and visitors a chance to experience the music and atmosphere of the festival.
Several of the songs on this new album were created in workshops at Mercyland over recent years, and there are seven co-writes, with Kylie involved in four songs and Sammy writing five songs himself. The project was recorded and produced at ‘Big Feet’ Studio in Wexford by Sammy, who is also a children's author and a visual artist with a growing collection of works.
On this new album we are given twelve superb examples of all that is great in traditional Celtic music. The opening Food Of Love is such a gentle reminder of why we are so drawn to a simple air and melody with Kylie’s sweet vocals complimented by Nigel Cameron on whistle and the twin fiddles of Julie Cameron-Hall and Tim Cotterill, joining with Hilda Browne on harp.
Kylie plays whistle and sings on I Will Saunter/Wandering Waltz and with Tim Cotterill on fiddle and mandolin, they deliver a superb performance, alongside Sammy (bass and acoustic guitar), Ben Turner (acoustic guitar), and Rhys Duursma (drums), turning a sweet melody into a joyous waltz, as the players keep time in unison and with an understated grace.
On the reflective Not A Number Kylie again steals the spotlight on accordion, whistle and beautifully delivered vocals. Jon Hirst on acoustic guitar adds his talents to a song that reflects upon the plight of refugees ‘I’m a name not a number, I’ve no voice I am unheard I’m a nuisance I’m a burden; I’m a song without the words.’ Such a touching recognition to the troubles from being displaced in this world.
The fictional McNamara’s Bar could be your pub, anywhere in the rural corners of Ireland, or further beyond our shores. In reality it’s a spiritual home for anyone who seeks community, fellowship and good cheer ‘Now mostly people gossip that it’s all about the drink, But it’s the clientele that really make you stop and think, The bar stool intellectuals arrive from near and far, They solve the problems of the world in McNamara’s bar.’
So It Goes looks at the passage of time and the observations made from the ways in which mistakes repeat in daily living and in general society. Something of a sad tinge in this song about the inevitable approach of that final day of reckoning. The album highlight for me is the gentle Be Still This Father’s Heart and a loving memory of children, their gifts, their beauty in the world, and the privilege it is to bring them up in a balanced and safe pathway to adulthood ‘If I’d had known that they would fade, I’d have held you longer in those days, I’d have kissed your curls and tried to slow the pace.’ David Lyon on piano, Hilda Brown on harp, Tim Cotterill on fiddle, join Sammy on bass and guitars with Kylie on accordion and whistle to deliver a special moment.
The reality of forced emigration is tackled on Be Careful Now My Children with the hard promises of survival in foreign places an escape from the Famine years in Ireland, wrapped in the hopes of a new beginning. There is a look at the message of equality on We’re All the Same/Shoe the Donkey and the fact that we are indeed all born into this world with the same prospect of living a full life and loving our families and fellow humans. Just where it all goes wrong is anybody’s guess but we have a destructive gene in our collective DNA that leans towards self-destruction.
There is a righteous anger running through 796 and the disbelief at which Irish authorities and religious orders lied and took away the lives of innocent children born out of wedlock. It references the baby scandal in Tuam, a small Irish town where between 1925 and 1961 the horrific discovery (in 2014) of 796 bodies of infants and children, found in a mass grave at St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, brought shame upon an entire Nation. It’s such a vital and important song!
Fat Tears is a jaunty melody that looks at the slippery slope of depression and the urge to hide in external stimulants ‘So I’m done with the drinking, I’m done with self-pity, I’m done with the demons that tempt me to fall, I remember my mother, When she passed out her wisdom, She said that Dutch courage was no courage at all.’
Fiddle and whistle create a haunting atmosphere on the tune about Irish mythology and the tale of the children of Lir. The Fate Of the Children Of Lir concerns the tale of children who are turned into swans for 900 years, with only their human voices remaining to let others know they are cursed. Co-vocals from both Kylie and Sammy are beautifully intertwined and deliver another album highlight.
All Of Your Heart closes this very impressive album with a message of loving awareness, honesty and an open embrace ‘Do unto others as you'd have done to you, Do it with all of your heart.’ A perfect message upon which to end. This is such a warm, inviting album and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Paul McGee