While many ensembles with prog intent bank on pseudo-intellectual approach and bombastic expression, HELD BY TREES have been seeking divinity in details from their very beginnings, although minimalism became only a small part of the British collective’s method, as the fittingly titled "Hinterland" proved so brilliantly. One year after that album saw the light of day, its follow-up is set to hit the shelves on October 2nd to mark the band’s further advances into heartbreak and beauty.
There’s been a few tomes about Rory Gallagher over the years, yet all of those told the great late artist’s story from the outside, with a rare insight providing a glimpse of who he really was. That’s why a book written by the musician’s brother Dónal – and co-penned by Jamie Dickson, the editor-in-chief of “Guitarist” magazine – promised to be so special. Not only because the surviving Gallagher brother not only grew up with the flamboyant-in-concert, if shy-off-stage, future performer but stayed with Rory all his life, as a manager.
Fifty-five years further on up the road from his debut “Himself” that established Gilbert O’Sullivan as one of the eminent singer-songwriters to ever emerge from the Emerald Isle, the Irish veteran’s verve doesn’t seem to be diminishing. Some sceptics may have suggested otherwise after his 2024 offering “Songbook” turned out to feature the revered musician’s classics, cut afresh, but O’Sullivan’s forthcoming album, set for issue on November 6th, should prove that Gilbert is still a creative force to be reckoned with.
Given the popularity of the THIN LIZZY reissue programme, it was only a matter of time before the band mastermind’s solo material would receive a similar deluxe treatment, and indeed, October 30th will see the appearance of Phil Lynott‘s “The Story Of My Life” box set. Comprising eight CDs and including both of the albums credited to him, rather than any of his ensembles, it could have been more concise, yet its flaws are greatly outweighed by the inclusion of tracks either recently unearthed or previously available elsewhere in a piecemeal fashion.
Most artists who start out as singer-songwriters stay within this troubadour niche even if they famously turn electric – but Claire Hamill is different from most musicians who fall into this category. Admitting to being a bit adventurous, she hasn’t become predictable over the last five and a half decades, as such albums as 2026’s "A House Among The Trees" suggest, and, what’s more, she hasn’t grown cynical and still finds wonders in the world, even though the state of its affairs sometimes makes her angry. The lady charted her own trajectory on Island Records, accompanied on her platters by elite players, opened for KING CRIMSON – alone with her guitar, unafraid to precede their raucous menace – and even wrote a piece with Robert Fripp, worked with Ray Davies and sang with WISHBONE ASH, yet she always delivered captivating melodies and words that capture her vision.
But then, Ms. Hamill is a captivating person with a lot stories to tell.
