My top 5 albums of 2011

5. Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones

Frank is one of the hardest working artists out there right now and without stopping his constant touring he's back with an album that has taken him to the edge of the mainstream, does it match the anthemic songwriting of his prior efforts? Maybe not, but there are plenty of memorable moments that make it worthy of my Top 5. 

Stand out track: 'Redemption'


4. Marit Larsen - Spark

Marit is my future wife, she's just playing hard to get right now, but in the mean time I'm enjoying the third album by the Norwegian songstress. If you like folk music right at the poppier end you're gonna love this album. 

Stand out track: 'What if'

3. Ben Marwood - Outside There's A Curse

I'll admit the first time I heard Ben I wasn't won over immediately, I was 'hounded' into listening to him by a couple of my friends, and then out of the blue I was asked to support him. Come his live set I got what all the fuss was about, and suddenly I realised where the magic was live. After that the album has been on repeat and I've been to see him play again in York.

Stand out track: 'I Will Breathe You In'

2. Edwina Hayes - Good Things Happen Over Coffee

I met Edwina at an acoustic guitar party just under a couple of years ago, we got chatting about music and my then unreleased album, she gave me a lot of advice about how to get the CD pressed and released, and then more recently she contributed some amazing backing vocals to my latest E.P. Anyway to the album, this is one of the most honest, heartfelt albums I've heard in a long time, the recording is done in a way that you feel like she's in the room with you. 

Stand out track: 'Nobody's Coming Around'


1. Ryan Spendlove - Fable

For me Ryan is hands down the most talented singer songwriter in the U.K right now. He recorded this album within a week, mostly in one take via Candyrat records in the USA. 'Fable' is hard to pin down as a genre as he touches Blues, Folk, Pop and Gospel all delivered with a voice to die for drenched in vibrato. He's very proud to show his Yorkshire accent in the songs and it works. 

Stand out track: 'Silicone Puppies'

Honourable Mentions: Blink 182 'Neighborhoods', Joe McCorriston 'One Day', The Swellers 'Good For Me''