Album: Devendra Banhart - Flying Wig

★★ DEVENDRA BANHART - FLYING WIG An electronically adventurous misfire

Offbeat singer-songwriter's latest is an electronically adventurous misfire

Had Devendra Banhart been born between 1940 and 1950, he’d likely be a household name. His output – very loosely – sits between Cat Stevens, Syd Barrett and Richie Havens, studded with a greatness not widely acknowledged. He had a spell around 15-20 years ago when he seemed about to commercially explode. That didn't happen but he’s settled to a solid career and done much gorgeous work since.

Judy Collins, Cambridge Folk Festival review - celebrating a seminal Sixties' album

★★★ JUDY COLLINS, CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL Celebrating a seminal Sixties' album

A loose variation on the folk superstar's 1967 classic 'Wildflowers'

It’s 15 years since Judy Collins last stepped out at the Cambridge Folk Festival. She was a mere 68 then and, in the time since, little has changed except her hair, the famous rock-star mane lopped so that she now resembles the cover of those classic early Sixties’ albums.

Album: Maria Wilman - Dark Horse

★★★ MARIA WILMAN - DARK HORSE London-based singer-songwriter’s strikingly assured debut

London-based singer-songwriter’s strikingly assured debut album

Although Dark Horse is Maria Wilman’s first album, it feels as though it’s the latest entry in a string of releases. The songs are fully formed. The delivery is assured. The overall character of what’s heard is cohesive, suggesting the person who recorded these 12 tracks draws from previous experiences with framing what they want to express, and how it should be expressed. But there it is, Dark Horse is a debut.

Julie Byrne, Juni Habel, Kings Place review - finely tuned evening balancing dark with light

Two singer-songwriters who refuse to be overwhelmed by anguish

It’s probably an unconscious action. Sat on a stage-centre chair, Julie Byrne sings. The two acoustic guitars she plays for about half the set are beside her, on their racks. One hand is above the other, palms down. Each moves side-to-side in a chopping motion. It’s not simultaneous with the song’s rhythm and independent of the meter of the lines. It’s not obvious what's being complemented or ticked off, but it must draw from something concealed by the exterior.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, BST Hyde Park review - Saturday in the park with Bruce

★★★★ BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND Saturday in the park with Bruce

Outsized E Street Band explores the Boss's huge catalogue

First things first. The support acts at events like this usually get completely overlooked, but it would be frankly criminal not to give a mention to a superb set by the Chicks. They dropped the “Dixie” from their original name because of its now “problematic” political connotations, and their critical comments about Dubya Bush provoked a career-changing backlash, but they’ve bounced back feistier than ever.

Album: Julie Byrne - The Greater Wings

★★★★ JULIE BYRNE - THE GREATER WINGS US singer-songwriter’s poignant memorial to loss

US singer-songwriter’s poignant memorial to loss

“Summer Glass” is The Greater Wings’ fourth track. A synthesiser pulse evoking water dripping from eaves unites with glistening harp arpeggios and muted strings. The voice weaving through this is distant, shrouded in fog. Lyrics are about “being ready to travel again,” wanting “to be whole enough to risk again.” Atmospherically, there are intimations of the intense 1969 Jerry Yester and Judy Henske LP Farewell Aldebaran and Beach House at their most oblique.

Album: Brigid Mae Power - Dream From The Deep Well

Irish singer-songwriter’s fourth album is her most direct yet

The cover versions on Dream From The Deep Well include “I Know Who is Sick,” most familiar from the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Maken interpretation, and “Down by the Glenside,” which The Dubliners incorporated into their repertoire. The first opens the album, the second closes it. Between, amongst the original compositions, there is also an adaptation of Tim Buckley’s “I Must Have Been Blind.”