2023 is in the books. So…on to 2024. There is an awful lot to look forward to. Here are a few picks of what we are looking forward to this year.
AMELIA COBURN RELEASES HER DEBUT ALBUM
Amelia Coburn is a folk singer from the North East who will be releasing her first full length album in 2024. After successfully funding a Kickstarter, Coburn released the wildly enchanting See Saw as a precursor. Sung in her inimitable style, the song has a gothic nursery rhyme feel. See Saw’s music is rich with menace and charm; meshed with the words, it is mesmerising. If this is a sign to come, then be sure to keep tabs on Amelia Coburn.
Although this will be Amelia’s first album, she is not short of admirers having turned the heads of the likes of Mark Ratcliffe and Tom Robinson at the BBC as well as being a part of the English Folk Expo and releasing a slew of singles over the past few years. Hopefully The Cheese Song makes it onto the album!
You can keep up with Amelia Coburn here.
WOMEX COMES TO MANCHESTER
In October 2024, celebrating its 30th edition, WOMEX comes to Manchester! With the announcement ahead of the 2023 English Folk Expo/Manchester Folk Festival, we were at the official launch speeches at Manchester’s Band On The Wall during the Expo. The bid, led by the city council, with partners Brighter Sound and English Folk Expo, with additional support from Arts Council England, British Council, Horizons and Marketing Manchester is a major coup for the city, long regarded as one of the most influential music cities in the world. “The best gathering of global music anywhere,” says Brighter Sounds’ Tom Besford of this once-in-a-generation event. He’s not wrong and we can’t wait for the experience.
With the new Co-Op Live arena out by the Etihad Stadium, Factory International’s Aviva Studios and the emergence of New Century Hall right by Victoria Station, the city is jam-packed with a plethora of places to experience live music.
WINTERFYLLETH & Arð RETURN
Grouped together due to members of both bands being involved in the same bands, these two brilliant metal bands will undoubtedly release two of the most lauded albums of the year.
For Winterfylleth, their forthcoming, as yet untitled album, will be their eighth. It follows their 2020 album, The Reckoning Dawn, which was released during lockdown. The band are clearly making up for their lack of touring time in 2020/2021 with plenty of festival appearances already announced across Europe in 2024, including being on the bill at 2024’s Incineration Festival in London and a first sojourn to Spain at Resurrection Festival.
Before that, Winterfylleth will play two shows supporting the mighty Emperor across two nights (Glasgow Barrowlands – March 22nd and Dublin 3Olympia Theatre – March 23rd). This is in addition to playing Inferno Festival in Bergen, Norway (March 28 – 31) and Ragnarök Festival in Lichtenfels, Germany (April 4 – 6).
Who knows…those lucky punters might hear some of the new stuff? It might give us all a taster of what is to come, but you can be sure that you will definitely get soaring songs full of passion and emotion penned from a band who just don’t put a foot wrong.
Keep up with the band here.
Arð, the solo project of Winterfylleth keyboardist Mark Deeks, will release their second album. The album will follow up the towering Take Up My Bones which told the story of St Cuthbert through six monolithic slabs of doom metal. On the back of the albums’ success, Arð performed in Huddersfield as part of the Organic Doom event which sought to highlight the dying art and sound of the pipe organ. The gig caught the eye of the BBC (which is crazy for a metal band like this) and Deeks also gave a Ted Talk around the impact of heavy metal on mental health (which you can view here).
Album number two is being teased with a date of 30.1.24 according to Arð’s social media outlets. The album will again be released via Prophecy Records and will undoubtedly be one to watch out for this year. Details are still sparse, but as Arð say, your patience will be rewarded. Expect sweeping tales of epic grandeur set to lofty musical backdrops and ambience in spades.
Keep up with the band here.
BRUCE DICKINSON RELEASES THE MANDRAKE PROJECT
Iron Maiden’s enigmatic polymath, Bruce Dickinson, will release his first new solo album in 17 years. The Mandrake Project has been heavily teased in many quarters. Come 1st March, the world will see what Bruce has cooked up with Roy Z this time.
Afterglow Of Ragnarok was released as a lead track and whetted the appetite perfectly. Dickinson’s albums have always been a little heavier and more diverse than the Maiden sound, so it was no surprise to hear that Afterglow Of Ragnarok is a beast of a track. We can only wait with anticipation to hear the rest of The Mandrake Project. Bruce will also be embarking on a solo tour taking in European festivals, South America and a run in the UK. Along with Iron Maiden’s ever-growing touring schedule, The Air Raid Siren is going to be busy this year!
Take a look at our run down of some of Bruce Dickinson’s finest solo work, here.
DUNE: PART TWO – HANS ZIMMER TO PICK UP MORE AWARDS?
When Denis Villeneuve’s depiction of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel was released in 2021 it was rightly lauded. A superb film that was made for the big screen.
What helped enhance the film was Hans Zimmer’s towering soundtrack. Not only was there the film score, there was a release for The Art Of Dune (a book accompanying the film), and The Dune Sketchbook which contained longer, more immersive musical explorations. All three of the releases show the genius of Hans Zimmer and add to the mythology and sprawling story of Dune.
Could the German maestro have more awards on his already full mantelpiece? The trailer for Dune: Part Two gives plenty of teasers but it is set to the same epic-sounding music. If the output for Dune: Part Two is anything akin to Part One, then film score fans and classical fans are going to be in for an absolute treat.
PROG ROCK GIANTS CONTINUE TO RULE
2024 also sees those of us with a taste for Prog Rock getting the chance to fill our boots with Yes, Jethro Tull and Steve Hackett touring whilst those picking up the baton – Leprous, The Pineapple Thief for starters- will also be treading the boards in the UK.
Bands who’ve hit the half-century mark, Yes will be touring the ‘Classic Tales of Yes’ set, attempting to cover most of their legacy; Hackett is still revisiting Genesis, this time focussing on a chunk of the Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (plus Genesis Greats – whatever that might include). He also has a new album set for release, and it’s a shame that his solo material has taken the back seat in the last decade of stage show. He didn’t tour in the UK in 2023, so it will be a welcome return.
Jethro Tull, or Ian Anderson and the set of musicians included under the Tull umbrella, have the RökFlöte album all shiny and new-ish, to add to The Zealot Gene as IA recently reverted back to JT. How he’ll cope with the deterioration in his voice remains to be seen, but it will be a good opportunity to see how the old guard compares.
IQ’s early January double header at The Met in Bury also promises to kickstart a spiffing Prog aperitif for 2024, with one night dedicated to the Dark Matter album. Prog on indeed!
UNDERNEATH THE STARS FESTIVAL HITS 10
The Underneath The Stars Festival celebrates a tenth anniversary. Running since 2014 and only missing 2020 (as we all did for the obvious reason) UTSF ranks as one of the go-to festivals of the Summer. Repeat offenders, Kate Rusby and the Doonicans from Barnsley have been joined over the years by Richard Thompson, Treacherous Orchestra, Imelda May, Scouting For Girls, The Unthanks, Show Of Hands and Lau alongside Steve Earle, Newton Faulkner, Angeline Morrison, Le Vent Du Nord, the Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band plus a host of arts and crafts opportunities.
There may even be some returns to help the celebrations, not least Kate’s musical and life partner, Damien O’Kane who didn’t play at the 2023 iteration and is due a return for some classy banjo malarkey.
BARBARA HIT BRIGHTON…AGAIN…AND MORE
2024 is destined to be a huge year for At The Barrier’s favourite pop satirists – the inimitable Barbara. In April, they’ll be accompanying Paul Weller on his sell-out tour around the UK, taking in such prestigious venues as Leicester’s De Montfort Hall, York Barbican, Sheffield City Hall and Cambridge Corn Exchange. It’s a tour that will give this excellent band the exposure that they thoroughly deserve and it might just be the key that unlocks the door to that elusive next level in which the Brothers Tydeman and their talented accompanists – Messrs Hosgood, Miller and Llewellyn, surely belong.
But – before all that excitement kicks off, there’s a Barbara event that’s just as certain to get Barbarette pulses well and truly racing… Even as I write, a veritable swarm of B’s is gathering on England’s South Coast, guaranteed to get 2024 off to a stonking start. On Thursday 18th January, there’ll be a Bouncing Brighton Bonanza – Barbara + Brighton’s Beach Boys are set to play at Latest Music Bar in Kemp Town – just a few short steps from the city’s iconic Palace Pier (click here for details/tickets).
We’ll be there and, between us and the gatepost, we rather think that this might be a show that we’re talking about for many years to come. Like The Beatles at The Cavern or Bruce Springsteen playing with The Rogues at Elks Lodge in Freehold, this might a show that, in years to come, “I was there...”
BELLOWHEAD RETURN TO TOUR
Thank heavens – they just don’t know when to stop, do they? We thoroughly enjoyed bringing blanket coverage of the 2022 tour when Bellowhead – that phenomenal 11-piece super-folkestra – reassembled to tread the boards of the UK’s theatres and concert halls to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their seminal Broadside album (our review here). It was a super occasion and, it’s clear, Bellowhead enjoyed it just as much as did we and the watching throngs. Because, in November 2024, Bellowhead are going to be doing it all again.
Kicking off at De Montfort Hall, Leicester on Thursday 7th November, the Bellowhead Express will be making a 19-date whistle-stop jaunt around England and Wales before the tour winds up at Cambridge Corn Exchange on Tuesday 26th. Full tour dates are here.
We’re still speculating wildly about the sort of show we should expect. Will it be another 10th anniversary celebration – this time of 2014’s Revival album? A chronological drift through the band’s exalted past? Who knows? But one thing’s definitely for sure – Jon, Sam, Benji, John, Rachael and the rest including new recruits Jim Bulger and Sally Hawkins, won’t be satisfied by anything other than total submission!
FAIRPORT’S CROPREDY CONVENTION 2024
Guess where we’ll all be for the second weekend in August? Cropredy brings out the best in us Brits; peace, love, great music – even blisteringly nice weather if we’re lucky. This year’s festival takes place during the 8th-10th August. We will be there in force again to bring you news of everything that happens in the Home Farm field (known as THAT field to the festival perennials), as well as reports of events in and around the village.
Last year’s festival was definitely one for the annals. Every single act reached for the sky and delivered (review here). And, you know? Cropredy 2024’s shaping up to be a bit of an event too! The first wave of announcements have certainly sent a few spinal shivers through our undergarments. Certain members of the At The Barrier team struggled to retain their bodily fluids when they heard that Big Big Train (a new album in March 2024 too…) would be playing, and, once that particular piece of news was followed by the revelation that Rick Wakeman and The English Rock Ensemble are set to headline… it was body-temperature showers all round!
The Trevor Horn Band will be back to get the field up, rocking and singing along on Friday night, whilst Dutch Masters, Focus, are all set to weave some of their Hocus Pocus. It’ll be wonderful to see Eddi Reader, Feast Of Fiddles and Kathryn Tickell back on the Cropredy stage. We’re also delighted to see artists we have followed with intent for a while on the bill – Baskery, Elles Bailey and Ranagri making the cut.
Not to be missed – under any circumstances whatsoever. Tickets can be bought by clicking here.
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