Anoushka Shankar – New Dawn

The music of this sitar master has evolved into a thing of vibrant grace, she can simultaneously evoke Indian tradition with a looping hypnotism that references electronica and flashes of western melodics. This is a performance of the closing track on the second in a trilogy of mini-albums Anoushka has released since 2023; the first was serene and introspective, the second a Grammy nominated piece with ambient sonics touching on vulnerability and transformation while this years concluding ‘We Return To Light’ leant towards her Indian classical roots alongside trance passages. Her upcoming performance at the BBC Proms will see Shankar present a world-premiere of music from all three editions of the trio in an orchestral setting, fresh with new arrangements in a single uninterrupted Albert Hall session. It promises the be a career defining moment for one of the richest talents in the music scene today.

Annie & The Caldwells – Wrong

This gospel/soul stomper is the lead track from Annie & The Caldwells 2025 album ‘Can’t Lose My (Soul)’ released on Luaka Bop Records. This may be the first trace I can find of them on vinyl but they are a multi-generational family band from West Point, Mississippi whose powerful lead vocalist Annie Brown Caldwell first sang with the Staples Jr. Singers in the 1970s. Along with her husband Willie she formed this band in the early 2000’s, partly to enable their children to sing in a spiritually grounded setting. It is one of those children, Deborah, who takes the attention grabbing lead vocal on ‘Wrong’ and it heads up an album, recorded in a local church, of instantly likeable songs focusing in on family, faith and resilience.

Mairi Morrison & Alasdair Roberts – Màiri nighean Dòmhnaill

This is a live performance of a track from Mairi and Alasdair’s album ‘Remembered in Exile: Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia’ available from Drag City Records. The broad mission of the pairs collaboration is stated in the album title, an idea that came about after a trip to Canada in 2023 when the Nova Scotian bassist and arranger Pete Johnston invited them to explore traditional songs with Scottish roots. With many of the songs first collected in the 1940s, the Gaelic speaking Morrison and prolific folk collaborator Roberts were drawn to the themes of exile and migration and set about shining some fresh light on this material in a 21st century setting.

Throwing Muses – Summer Of Love

Without losing an ounce of their piercing intensity, 2025 has seen the welcome return of Throwing Muses who released their new album, ‘Moonlight Concessions’ earlier this year on Fire Records. Still fronted by singer and songwriter Kristin Hersh, she recalls that this song began life as a bet with a guy for a dollar that revolved around the idea that the seasons don’t change us. I like the way she resolves each chorus with a concession that she lost the bet, later explaining “he said we aren’t just planted here, stagnant, we’re in flux, responding to love like octopuses moving across the ocean floor. Turns out he was right, and I still owe him a buck.”

Niamh Bury – Geordie

The brilliant GemsOnVHS continue to build a treasure trove online archive of filmed performances with this latest edition, shot in the Dublin home of singer Niamh Bury, as she gave them another essential nugget for their inventory performing this traditional folk tune. In the lyric a lover pleads for the life of the songs main character and Niamh injects raw emotion and feeling into her rendition. She has recently caught the attention of these pages with her 2024 debut album, ‘Yellow Roses’, which was one of the best albums of the year in our opinion, not just for its folk bedrock but also the way it pulled in suggestions of wider, disparate musical influences such as alt-rock and classical. This is a timely check-in for a brief snapshot of her ongoing journey as we wait for future releases.

Paul Weller – Pinball

Paul Weller’s new album ‘Find El Dorado’ is a typically eclectic and revelatory cover versions set well worth digging into. The relatable thing about Weller is he never loses that crate digging, new discovery thrill that all us record collector types permanently live with. And the other thing I can say about him is he generally has impeccable taste. This is a song originally written and recorded by Brian Protheroe in 1974 and it certainly proves what a fertile period that late sixties, early seventies era remains for music hounds. This one was apparently only a recent discovery for a lifelong hunter like Weller and it reminds us that those rare and wonderful finds do not always have to be the high value pieces, the original Chrysalis 45 of this song can be easily picked up on Discogs for the £1/£2 mark, so never give up the search.