I occasionally post selections of new music which has crossed my radar, most of which comes from recommendations by the ever-reliable YouTube algorithm. It has been five months since I last did this, and as there have been quite a few recently that I have liked I thought I’d take some of them for a spin.

I’m sharing six today, all of which are recent releases from people I have played before – many times, in most cases! I always like to get off to a lively start, and this one fits that bill perfectly:

I was first drawn to Walk Off The Earth (WOTE) by their fantastic ‘five people and a guitar’ version of Gotye’s big hit, Somebody That I Used To Know, and I imagine that goes for many of their other fans too. That was around fifteen years ago and since then they have entertained us with many more great covers, in addition to making their own music – all of which is equally enjoyable. Good Company is the title track of their new album, which was released two weeks ago, and it is typical of the fun vibe of the album as a whole. And of just about everything they do, come to that. After I had first watched this YouTube dropped another video into my feed, which is a brief clip of Joel, the band’s drummer, taking about the similarities and differences of this song with one by Beyonce from 2005, Check On It. Not being a fan of hers I didn’t know the song in question, but Joel gives a very erudite explanation of it. You can find it here if you want to see it – he isn’t your stereotypical thick drummer! And it goes without saying that I much prefer WOTE’s song to Beyonce!

Having started off in cheery fashion I thought I’d take things down a notch with this next one. Regulars will know that I’m a huge fan of Lewis Capaldi, and have been delighted to see his return this year with new music and live shows. So far, he has given us a four track EP, the lead song from which, Survive, was an instant UK #1 hit, and the most recent track from the EP is this one:

The Day That I Die is a typical Lewis ballad, filled with emotion and intelligence. As someone once said, he doesn’t write lyrics, he writes feelings. This is lovely song that, judging by the comments on YouTube, means a lot to many people who have lost someone close, particularly if that was a child or a younger sibling. It clearly has special meaning for that poor lady in the audience who is in floods of tears. Apparently he performed this last Friday on the BBC’s annual Children In Need telethon, and I’m sure it boosted donations. I never watch, as the forced bonhomie and all round crappiness of the event turns me off, but I was pleased to see the YouTube clip of that. This one – the official release for the song – is better, I think.

Another favourite of mine has a new album on the way, scheduled for release in February. This is its title track:

Caroline Jones is a fabulous singer-songwriter, and having been taken under the wing of the late Jimmy Buffett she opened shows for him and played the occasional song with him before, sadly, we lost him. She then did the same for the Zac Brown Band and they liked her so much that she was invited to become a permanent band member. She is still pursuing her own musical career, though, and Good Omen does indeed bode well for her new album. I’m looking forward to 13th February!

I recently played something by The Hound + The Fox for Song Lyric Sunday, and they were extremely well received. They have just released a new album of seasonal songs, and whilst it may be a little early I’m playing one of them for you – their version of Auld Lang Syne:

The album is called Married And Bright: Duets For The Holidays. The title is a reference to the fact that they have previously released music aimed more at children, and this time they are being ‘grown-up’ about it! This song closes the album, which is all totally beautiful – if you liked this I can recommend it. ICYMI previously, The Hound + The Fox are a husband and wife duo, Reilly and McKenzie Zamber, from Oregon, who make videos for others as well as for their own lovely music. Highly recommended!.

I thought I’d close with a couple of uplifting songs from favourites of mine. Starting with this guy:

Bryan Adams with Be The Reason, from his latest album Roll With The Punches, which came out at the end of August and reached #3 in the UK. This video is a new one, though, released last Friday, and the song’s simple message of ‘be the reason someone smiles today’ is always valid, isn’t it? In a world which is going rapidly to hell in a handcart we should all be doing our little bit to make things better for others, even just in small ways.

On a similar theme, the new collaboration from the fantastic Playing For Change is a song that asks another simple question, one which feels so needed these days:

Well, why can’t we? The song Why Can’t We Be Friends? was released by the band War in April 1975 as a single, and it then became the title track of their seventh album that June. Though the band had started out with Eric Burdon he had left by then, but the song and album were both top ten hits in the US even without him. Playing For Change, about whom I have written before, give this their usual wonderful treatment with talents from around the world, and it feels a fitting way to close this selection.

That’s all for today, then. There were several others I could have included but I didn’t want to overload the post – six songs is enough for one time, I think. Now that my central heating has been fixed I’m off to luxuriate in the warmth, and to work out what to play you for our next date: Song Lyric Sunday. See you then, I trust 😊