STEVE JOHNSON relishes a celebration of the commonality of folk music and its links with the struggles of working people the world over
Album reviews with Steve Johnson
The latest from Kate Rusby, Gifford Lind, Alex Black and Guy Burgess
This thriller is a politically charged and morally complex dive into climate activism and police repression, judges JENNY FARRELL
Cat show killer, avenging the pawns, women hunt the Ripper, and running dry in the outback
The Bard reflects on sharing a bed, and why he wont go to Chelsea
MARY CONWAY applauds a new play that foresees the unscrupulous tactics of a future far-right minority government
RON JACOBS is moved to tears by an eloquent journal of heartfelt intensity and human portraiture
ROBERT OVETZ recommends a case study, from the University of Leicester, in their struggle against precarization, AI, privatisation, outsourcing, and work intensification in higher education
Kate Rusby
Philosophers, Poets and Kings
Pure Records
★★★★
PAYING tribute to her musical heritage and family upbringing in Yorkshire, Kate Rusby’s 17th studio album is a combination of traditional songs, covers and her own compositions which reflect different musical memories, among them singing with her parents and attending folk festivals at an early age.
Traditional songs like Bogey’s Bonnie Belle sit alongside innovative covers of Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick’s Crazy Man Michael and, somewhat unexpectedly, Noel Gallagher’s Don't Go Away.
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