You'll recognise the wonderful Steamy Windows (covered by good friend Tina Turner with TJW backing her) but the awesome opening track Tunica Motel which tells of Tony Joe's return to his blues roots sets the stage for the whole album. Tunica Motel has it all - strong hooks and TJW's strong songwriting which starts as a song about getting away from it all, and becomes, gradually, a gut-spilling account. "I'm so tired of fighting with myself…" confesses TJW. Later, when he's contemplating his musical direction, he "sees the ghost of Robert Johnson" and for me the line brings an involunatary tingle down my spine every time I hear it, which is often. Tony Joe is Back! In this album he reintroduces us to his warm Stratocaster blues in gorgeous tracks: Ain't Going Down This Time and You're Gonna Look in Blues. In some ways these marked a new sound that he'd develop on subsequent albums - moving us closer to his use of Spanish guitar.

From the Choirgirl Hotel is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos, released on May 5, 1998. A departure from her previous albums, it was more a heavily produced project featuring a full rock band sound (instead of Amos's usual minimalist piano sound). The album debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and number 6 in the UK. In 1999, Amos received two Grammy nominations: Alternative Music Performance, and Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Raspberry Swirl".

Otra Cosa, the eagerly awaited fifth studio album by Julieta Venegas, is remarkably similar to her previous two, Sí (2003) and Limón y Sal (2006). The similarity is remarkable because both those albums were all-around excellent, loaded with Latin pop hits and first-rate album tracks. There wasn't a bad track on either album, and Otra Cosa is likewise rock-solid, starting off with three fantastic songs in a row, "Amores Platónicos," "Bien o Mal," and "Despedida." Moreover, all three albums are similar in style, produced by Cachorro López and comprised of upbeat pop songs with clever lyrics, rich melodies, and a range of instrumentation (guitar, piano, accordion, and beats, above all). Otra Cosa was eagerly awaited in part because of the four years since Limón y Sal. During that time, Venegas became one of the most popular and critically acclaimed Latin pop artists in the world.

Going back and listening again to Tony Joe White's prodigious output from his early years, one is amazed at the depth of his talent as a guitarist, a singer and as a songwriter. After a series of albums that explored his love of deep Southern Blues, TJW took a warmer, more acoustic turn with Home Made Icecream. A lot of this is the back porch music he clearly loves - and here he is surrounded by fine session men who, if I recall from my old vinyl copy, include a drummer who wouldn't play until he'd read the lyrics…which as Tony Joe noted: "Is all right by me." The album flows beautifully, kicking off with a little rocker - Saturday Night in Oak Grove Louisiana (Tony Joe always had a thing about vehicles - little details like fender skirts - and here its the fibreglass mufflers on his pickup truck) and featuring among other things a gorgeous, lightly picked acoustic guitar and harp instrumental: the title track of the album. There's a ballad - Ol Mother Earth - but the standout is the last track which blows in like a cold breeze off a lake. "Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You" is among his best ever examples of songwriting, singing and guitar playing.

TO VENUS AND BACK pairs a disc of studio tracks with a disc of live concert recordings. The first disc features some of Amos' most electronic-sounding productions to date. Though her acrobatic singing is given its usual full rein, many of the studio songs feature intricate, effects-rich orchestrations. The album-opening "Bliss" begins as a windswept soundscape, only to open up into a hook-laden chorus. "Juarez" is an intoxicating stew of disembodied voices, roiling synthesizers, and propulsive percussion. "Glory of the '80s" visits a night of drug-fueled hedonism during a decade that defined excess. "Josephine" is a standout track that will appeal to fans of Amos' more open, piano-centered work. The second disc culls tracks from Amos' 1998 Plugged Tour. The live rendering of "Cornflake Girl" is a particularly stirring affair, noteworthy for Amos' vocal bravura and for the cascading sheets of piano that she adds during the song's climax. Also featured is "Cooling," a track that Amos has never committed to album. No Tori Amos fan will want to be without TO VENUS AND BACK. Album was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance.

Five-time Grammy-winner Mary Chapin Carpenters 15th studio album, The Dirt And The Stars, finds the singer-songwriter pondering lifes intimate, personal moments and exploring its most universally challenging questions at an unprecedented time. Written at her rural Virginia farmhouse before stay-at-home orders became the new normal, the songs celebrate invaluable experiences and irreplaceable wisdom, while also advocating exploration of the best in all of us. Produced by Ethan Johns (Ray LaMontagne, Paul McCartney, Kings of Leon) and recorded at Peter Gabriels Real World Studios in Bath, in southwestern England, The Dirt And The Stars marks Carpenters first collection of all-new material since 2016s The Things That We Are Made Of.

Ray LaMontagne has been making albums long enough to firmly establish the warm rusticity of his singer-songwriter approach, then pursue his more psychedelic inclinations. On his eighth full-length, MONOVISION, he circles back to a sort of considered simplicity.

Unfollow The Rules finds Rufus Wainwright at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty and a new-found fearlessness, while remaining as mischievous as ever. Recorded in the same legendary Los Angeles studios as his landmark debut, his ninth album is both a bookend to Act 1 of an extraordinary career and a distillation of 21 years of experience at pop’s most flamboyant coal face. Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London and Laurel Canyon, Unfollow The Rules captures Rufus at a crossroads. Ready to tackle new challenges, yet compelled to confront his past, he’s taking stock of two decades of running riot with rules, making sense of how he has matured as a musician and celebrating the contended family man he has become.

Where a slow-burning, word of mouth campaign was hugely beneficial to Jon Allen – his debut album, 2009’s Dead Man’s Suit, was given a sizeable leg-up by one track’s use in a Land Rover campaign, while champions included Jo Whiley, Jools Holland and Emmylou Harris – second album Sweet Defeat not only has the task of matching this, but is also burdened with the albatross of assumed instant impact. But it seems as though that’s the last thing Allen is worried about. While his passport may substantiate the on-paper Britishness of this Hampshire-born artist, his yarns and philosophies paint a picture of a grizzled American folk musician, decades of abandon behind him. Sweet Defeat, in this vein, employs good honest rock'n'roll ideals, actioned via a collection of simple, folksy melodies.

Nine Objects of Desire is Suzanne Vega's fifth studio album, released September 10, 1996. It peaked at number 92 in the Billboard 200.

After releasing her previous album in 2017, Samantha Crain thought she would never make music again. Instead she found herself trying to work out how to live without the use of her hands, which had become paralysed. However, with a steeliness and concrete determination to at least employ music as a pastime, if no longer professionally, she tasked herself with perseverance in finding her way back to health. And she never gave up.

What’s New, Tomboy? is an album that seeks respite in bare minimums and barren revelations: sometimes frail, sometimes affirming, sometimes wry, and usually a threadbare mix of all those sentiments. It could be considered Damien Jurado’s finest collection of music to date, with songs exuding the inviting warmth of a lone porch light gleaming amidst the disorienting darkness. Though more stripped and grounded in their execution, songs like Sandra, Ochoa and Alice Hyatt are generous and candid in their vocabulary, eschewing the sometimes abstruse imagery of Jurado’s previous releases. “There is no hiding on these tracks.” Though What’s New, Tomboy? is the first Damien Jurado record that ends with a question mark, he has never sounded more assured and content in giving up his ghosts: “I’m only living sentences // That were long before I got here.”

2008 digitally remastered and expanded edition of Van's classic 1979 album featuring two previously unreleased bonus tracks: alternate versions of 'Steppin' Out Queen' and 'Troubadours'. Into The Music is a wonderfully diverse album, featuring some notable guests including Ry Cooder, Robin Williamson of the Incredible String Band, former James Brown saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and trumpeter and future soundtrack composer, Mark Isham. Includes original artwork and full lyrics to Van Morrison compositions 12 tracks.

Unearthed from a cache of home demos and reel-to-reel recordings, Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs is the second release of archival music from the vault of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. This remarkable 48 song collection, spread over three volumes, was recorded between the making of Time (The Revelator) and Soul Journey. It is an intimate glimpse at the artist’s sketchbook, containing some lifelong themes as well as some flights of fancy. The versatility and quality shown here greatly expand the Welch/Rawlings canon, and confirm that the acclaimed studio albums from the pair have never been an accident but a clear artistic choice.

Eddi Reader's voice falls like a soft autumn rain. Despite its cleansing nature, it carries a touch of melancholy for the coming darkness of winter; it bears a hint of sadness and solitude for the one who longs for sunshine and warmth. Simple Soul is a sweet setting for Reader. Although it's not overflowing with catchy pop songs, it's the kind of soothing record you might listen to while making a quiet, candlelight dinner or meandering around the house on a lazy Sunday morn. While Reader's honey voice swirls beautifully around, the pristine acoustic guitar sounds dance with Indian tamboura and harmonium, creating an almost mystical ambience. Again, don't expect to tie on your dancing shoes. This is definitely more of a slipper and robe kind of thing. The main musical and production support comes from Boo Hewerdine, Roy Dodds, and Teddy Borowiecki – talented fellows one and all.