Julie Byrne review – elegiac ache and nuanced feelings

Two years on from the death of her friend and musical collaborator Eric Littmann, Byrne tours the album they were working on together, in a performance of mesmerising beauty

Joni Mitchell: At Newport review – years melt away in surprise folk festival recording

Her poignant return to live performance in 2022 gets a full release, and it’s a hit-filled show displaying Mitchell’s enduring warmth and wisdom

Julie Byrne: The Greater Wings review – a stunning study of love and loss

Recorded both before and after the death of a friend and collaborator, the US singer-songwriter’s new album feels as though it sits outside time and space

Various artists: A Collection of Songs in the Traditional & Sean-Nós Style review – Gaelic sadness and longing

Recorded in pubs, kitchens and community halls, these old Irish songs are a thrilling reminder that the voice needs no technology to move us deeply

Joni Mitchell review – first headline show in two decades is three hours of total joy

Many thought she might never play live again after an aneurysm, but Mitchell is in lively, fun-filled form at this all-star return in rural Washington state

Damir Imamović: The World and All That It Holds review – lightning bolts of emotion

The Bosnian musician combines Slavic sevdah, Sephardic Jewish and original songs to tell the story of two soldiers who fall in love during the first world war

Rufus Wainwright: Folkocracy review – an illustrious feelgood duet party

The songwriting polymath (and some surprising guests) goes back to his roots on this mellifluous set of folk classics

Jon Wilks: Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost review – tender and thoughtful

The hard-working West Midlands folk devotee finds inspiration from beyond Birmingham on a lively, inventive fourth LP

Bongeziwe Mabandla: amaXesha review – South African singer in his own lane

The singer-songwriter elevates his reimagining of Xhosa folk music with synth-pop hooks and his melismatic voice

Lucy Farrell: We Are Only Sound review – a fresh, thoughtful debut

(Hudson)A stalwart of the folk scene brings rich experience to her long-brewed first album

Cinder Well: Cadence review – a mysterious deep dive into the ocean

Multi-instrumentalist Amelia Baker conjures realms of poetic sound on a lush, complex, sometimes overwhelming album

The Young’uns: Tiny Notes review – passionate folk in praise of unsung heroes

Paying tribute to David Nott, Lyra McKee and more, the Teesside trio’s eighth album delivers compassion without fanfare

Nina Nastasia review – a mettle-testing, memorable comeback

The American alt-folk singer returns after a 12-year hiatus to worshipful cheers, in a show that condenses her trauma into jagged bursts

Lankum: False Lankum review – folk radicals get in touch with their softer side

Without diluting their power or abandoning their gothic intensity, the Dublin group’s fourth album lulls the listener with songs of exquisite softness and deeply affecting harmony

Hack-Poets Guild: Blackletter Garland review – dark songs from a starry trio

Marry Waterson, Lisa Knapp and Nathaniel Mann combine to revivify a rather gloomy collection of ancient songs