The harp, banjo and uilleann pipes folk trio Alfi, comprising Alannah Thornburgh, Fiachra Meek and Ryan McAuley, have recently released their debut album Say Old Man. The band, who were nominated for the Best Emerging Folk Act award at the 2019 RTÉ Folk Awards, explore Irish and Appalachian folk music on this ten-track record, which includes previously released singles ‘The Whistling Thief’ and ‘Jubilee’. 

Musicians Rónán Ó Snodaigh and Myles O’Reilly have released The Beautiful Road, a new album blending folk, traditional and ambient sounds. The album, released on Claddagh Records, is the second from the pair, who shared their first collaborative album Tá Go Maith in 2021. The Beautiful Road is a collection of nine works written by the duo while touring together, inspired by nature. The resulting sound is a wash of soft instrumentation including bells, breaths, brush-stroked rhythms and ambient melodies. 

Ireland-based American folk musician Rhiannon Giddens has announced that her next solo album You’re the One will be released on 18 August on Nonesuch Records. The artist – who earlier this year was awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera Omar, with Michael Abels – has shared several singles from the record, including ‘You’re the One’, ‘You Louisiana Man’, and ‘Yet to Be’. 

Mick Flannery has announced that his eighth studio album Goodtime Charlie is due for release on 15 September via Oh Boy Records, the label founded in 1981 by American country-folk singer John Prine. Flannery’s upcoming album is the label’s first-ever international signing, and includes recently released songs ‘Goodtime Charlie’ and ‘Morning Rain’. 

Plúirín na mBan is a new collaboration between singer, bodhrán player, and composer Cathy Jordan, Austrian fiddle-player, composer and singer Claudia Schwab, and composer Irene Buckley. The trio last month released their debut record Female Rambling Sailor – an exploration of folk music, classical and jazz, with ambient sounds and electronics. Composer and bass player Barry Guy has released All This is Here, a new record with his ensemble Blue Shroud Band featuring works inspired by the writings of Samuel Beckett.

Pop singer CMAT has recently released a new single with John Grant ‘Where are Your Kids Tonight’; cellist, vocalist and composer Naomi Berrill has shared a new song ‘Sea Warrior’; Soda Blonde have announced that their second album Dream Big is due for release on 8 September and have shared new single ‘Bad Machine’; indie singer-songwriter Orla Gartland has shared new single ‘Kiss Ur Face Forever’ – her first new music since her 2021 album Woman on the Internet; and Bantum and Jack O’Rourke have shared a new collaborative disco-pop track ‘Take Cover’. 

Other recently released records include Clare fiddle player Tony Linnane’s Ceol na Fidle out on Raelach Records; fiddle and concertina duo Conor Arkins and Paul Clesham’s The Morning Thrush; Close Your Eyes by experimental folk band Pedlar’s Cross; Drinking the Stars, a new album of solo piano works by composer John McLachlan performed by Mary Dullea; composer Roger Doyle’s In the Dreemplace; mezzo-soprano Aylish Kerrigan’s new album of works by composer Kurt Weill; Dave Flynn’s A Curious Compendium of Crooked Irish Tunes Vol. 1; Eva’s Tree by traditional composer Thomas Walsh; and Tell Her I Am by the trio of Dónal Clancy, Brian McGrath and Damien Quinn. 

Listen to a playlist of all recent releases below. To submit your release, email newreleases [at] journalofmusic.com.

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