"A spine-tingling collection of traditional songs, artfully reinterpreted for contemporary ears and concerns" - Telegraph says in a review of Sam Lee's new album. It was produced by Suede's Bernard Butler, with guest vocals from the Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser, and it's title 'Old Wow' is Lee’s phrase about the enduring power of nature. The Guardian chose it as their latest Folk album of the month - "Butler has produced Old Wow like a soul record, full of space and warmth. But this treatment fills Lee’s clear, precise diction with a stark, longing quality. Add a sleepy Sunday-morning John Martyn jazz vibe... and the effect is exquisite". The Observer likes it as much - "It’s a daring piece of chamber folk".

It's a standard now to have Brooklyn Vegan making the best selection on new songs. This week they're not all great, but some do stand out. This week it's: Stormzy with his "hardest, darkest, and most booming" song 'Audacity'; Sam Lee's 'The Moon Shines Bright' with Celtic vibe and Elisabeth Fraser on vocals (below); The […]

Guardian has a nice story, happy-afternoon-movie type, about an English folk singer Sam Lee who is trying - and succeeding - to save birds. He goes into the night with shruti box – the instrument used by Indian musicians to create drone effects – and sings to nightingales: “They love the harmonics. They love cellos […]