It’s been a full six years since the last Midas Fall album and finally here is Cold Waves Divide Us.

Simply put it will take something special to stop this being album of the year.

The band have expanded to a trio since 2018’s Evaporate and the sheer power that has given their music is astonishing.

In the Morning We Will Be Someone Else opens the album by building slowly into a maelstrom of drums and guitar while Elizabeth Heaton’s stratospheric vocals strafe the song with yearning and despair.

However, nothing prepares you for the second track of I Am Wrong. I have played and played and replayed this song so many times already. The almost NMA tribal drumming draws you into a swirling personal psychiatrist session of self-loathing. The line of “I am not extraordinary; I am just the best you can do” just astounds me every time.

The other standout track for me is the instrumental Point of Diminishing Return with the insistent synths in the opening and the trademark deliberate slow drum beat. As the song builds the strings come to the fore and it becomes almost symphonic.

Whilst the album feels like a study in melancholy and longing there are some glimmers of light through the cloud with In This Avalanche being a beautiful, quieter ballad to offset the thunderous post rock heft of the rest of the album.

This is a band reaching new heights, vocally and musically.

This album is just stunning, and you just need to hear it. 

 Two reviews this month and two albums that have taken their time.

It’s been four years since Jo Beth Young released the album Strangers (under the name of RISE) but Broken Spells was clearly worth the wait.

It’s a beautiful alternative/progressive folk opus full of twists and mesmerising moments.

Jo Beth has assembled a great cast of musicians to help her – members of Abrasive Trees, Peter Yates (ex Fields of Nephilim) and John Reed.

Wolf Song is a gorgeous opener setting the tone with the cello solo from Ben Roberts and those effortless vocals.

Ockham’s Razor has a dusty American gothic vibe while Mechanical Ballerina with its electronic beats and soaring voice is the daintiest song of offer.

My favourite track is still Brigid which was release as a single maybe two years ago. I adore the steel guitar from John Reed before the pace picks up and the song just joyously bounce along.

The vocals throughout are spectacular both with the range and emotion that Jo Beth can invest in the lyrics. I’ve seen the usual comparisons made (Kate Bush, Tori Amos) but ignore that as this is a voice that stands on its own merits.

Here’s hoping there will be chances to catch these songs live in the near future.

 It’s been a slow start to the year, but the first new review is a good one.

Any release from the New Model Army should always be welcomed and cherished.

Confession time first – I’ve never really taken to the last album, From Here. After the first few plays it's become one of my least played releases from NMA so I approached Unbroken with a bit of trepidation.

Nothing to fear here though. From the urgent, muscular opener of First Summer After to the bass heavy groove of Deserters this is an excellent album.

Lyrically there seems to be a bit more bite than recently. Reload open with Justin spitting the words “If I have to see another f**king Union Jack flying on the orders of the government, I’m going to be sick”. Must mention the amazing drumming on this track which is so reminiscent of the much missed Rob Heaton.

Language and Coming or Going both come with one of those huge NMA choruses designed to sung at the top of your voice among the crowd with all arms stretched skyward.

Idumea is an interesting track. Sparse and built around loping, tribal drums before swelling in to something almost hymn like with the choir of voices.  

My favourite release since Between Dog and Wolf – I so want to get out there and catch them live just one more time.  

 So this my TWELTH (!) end of year list which seems faintly unbelievable....

And so to my top ten albums in their customary alphabetical order

• Abrasive Trees - Nothing Exists for a Moment
• Arabrot – Of Darkness & Light
• Jenny Colquitt – Lost Animals
• Cruel Diagonals – Fractured Whole
• Happy Axe – The Tiger Dream
• The Lost Trades – Petrichor
• Myrkur – Spine
• New Model Army – Sinfonia
• Public Service Broadcasting – This New Noise
• Silver Moth – Black Bay

If I was really pushed to choose a favourite it would be either Silver Moth or Myrkur but it would be impossible to call.

 Second part of my 2023 roundup are my favourite gigs:

In June I saw Carcass at the Exeter Phoenix. Absolutely packed and possibly the most brutal bands I've seen live. Great to enjoy it as well with friends from the Pig & Pickle pub.

October took me to my first church gig at St Mary’s Church in Totnes to see Jo-Beth Young & Serious Child - The acoustics were amazing and the whole experience was magical

On to November a trip to see The Sisters of Mercy at the Marble Factory in Bristol. One of my favourite ever gigs - The band were sensational even with a set full of unreleased songs.

Finally the only band I saw twice in 2023 was The Lost Trades. The best of the two gigs was the November gig at the All Saints Church in Kenton. The church acoustics suited the acapella voices of the band beautifully.

 Think it might be time to start the festive round up of 2023 - First up are my favourite half dozen standalone singles

• Marie Eidolon – Drive
• Maer – Poisoned Waters
• Regan & Bricheno – Winter 2023
• True Foxes – 17
• Tusks – Artificial Flame
• A.A. Williams – Without You I’m Nothing

Interesting that the list is very female orientated and hopefully some of these will appear on albums in 2024.

Finally it is so great to see Julianne Regan and Tim Bricheno working together again.

 We return to the beguiling and unique world of Australian Emma Kelly and her third album as Happy Axe. As with previous releases, The Tiger Dream, doesn’t adhere to any regular notion of song writing such as verse or chorus but exists in its own realm.

At only four tracks and 30 minutes I guess this just about qualifies as an album rather than EP

Canopy, the opening track, is almost like a dream like soundscape with ghostly vocals floating over harp and flute with plucked violin strings providing what rhythm there is. It sounds like the soundtrack to a spookily atmospheric but as yet un-filmed cinematic masterpiece.

The throb of a heartbeat and violins dominate Injuries while the title track is possibly the most straightforward song on the album.

I would suggest there was no set plan for the aptly named final track, Something Strange is About to Happen, before recording it – We are looking instead at an intuitive 15 minute piece of improvisation where the music ebbs and flows. More plucked violins, the eerie whine of a saw and wordless intonations conjure up strange, unsettling images in your head.

Even if I don’t fully understand it, I love her work