Ben Howard returns with his 4th album, Collections From The Whiteout, produced alongside Aaron Dessner (The National). The foreboding darkness that coated Ben’s second record I Forget Where We Were and thinly veiled its follow up Noonday Dream, isn’t so evident on Collections. These are songs written from headlines scanned, or news stories scrolled past, providing inspiration for a selection of vivid narrative snapshots – the death of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst (Crowhurst’s Meme); Russian fraudster Anna Sorokin (Sorry Kid); the man who stole and crashed a plane in Seattle (The Strange Last Flight Of Richard Russell); and the dismembered body a friend of his father found in a suitcase floating along the Thames (Finders Keepers). Alongside them, the personal anecdotes from the same scattered period living between Paris, Devon and Spain. Yussef Dayes features, as does Kate Stables (This Is The Kit), James Krivchenia (Big Thief), Kyle Keegan (Hiss Golden Messenger), and Dessner. Thomas Bartlett, St. Vincent’s go-to pianist, and Rob Moose, a long-standing arranger of strings for Bon Iver, are also present. Long-term guitarist to Ben’s band, Mickey Smith (A Blaze of Feather), remains a reassuring constant. It’s a sonic adventure that continues this nagging suggestion that Ben is one of the UK’s most inventive and naturally talented songwriters. CFTW is his latest opus, and arguably his most fully realised to date.

https://www.facebook.com/stephaniefrasermusic/

THE WAY WE FALL OUT NOW! 
http://stefanmelbourne.bandcamp.com

With a whispering intensity for lyricism bound to simple yet robust musicality, Stefan Melbourne is already becoming a well-known name in the Manchester music scene. Drawing on the emotionally expressive sounds of Nick Drake and Tim Buckley, Melbourne is no stranger to urban poetry and lyrics of raw emotion, and has caught the limelight through his composite style that aligns itself with both indie-folk and country blues.

Tapping into a mature repertoire of seminal American folk musicians such as Lead Belly, Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Johnson, his interesting blend of contemporary lyrics alongside a classic folk, almost bluegrass approach, sees Melbourne’s efforts fall comfortably on the ears of Bon Iver fans and Lamontagne followers alike.

Bon Iver is an art project based in Wisconsin.

I try and be as loud and as quiet as possible with an acoustic guitar, a loopstation and lots of effects!
Damien Rice meets Biffy Clyro 

Dani Smith 2 is following