Nina Nesbitt

Nesbitt has swivelled from her usual pop fare and found a fertile thread of Appalachian folk to flex her songwriting chops to - and it's a marvellous success, bringing an intimate vulnerability to her softly beckoning sounds.

While it might sound strange that Nesbitt was drawn to the music of Appalachia, heard echoing through the vast, verdant mountain ranges of the eastern United States, it makes more sense when you consider how traditional Scottish ballads and hymns are threads in that rich tapestry. Empathy is one of Nesbitt's greatest strengths. We hear it on "Painkiller", a Joni Mitchell-indebted ballad on which her heart breaks for the men who believe they have to suppress their own feelings. One of the album's standout qualities is, perhaps, the dynamic that Nesbitt creates from one song to the next. Where many folk artists might lean into quiet introspection, she craves the full spectrum of emotion - so ensconced around "Painkiller" you have the tender "On the Run', with its distant shivers of percussion and crystalline piano, but also "Anger". She's in a nostalgic mood on the rousing "Coming Home", a Springsteen- inspired, driving-with-the-top-down journey back to the places and people she loves.