Starting tonight’s journey from Nashville with a song from the new Caroline Spence album Mint Condition that came out on the 3rd of May. It’s her first on Rounder Records who are giving a platform to lots of great songwriters at the moment. It has always been a good label, but it has risen to an even higher level since John P. Strohm took over in late 2017. But enough about the label, Caroline Spence is the real star here and she has written a powerful and engaging album. Sit Here and Love Me is a love song that leaves a strong impression. It’s written from the perspective of a person who is dealing with depression and the message for her loved one is that all you need to do is to be present and love me. Even anxieties aside that message is universal and something that can easily get lost in the world where we live with a phone attached to our hand. Be there for the one that is close to you and not for the guy who wrote a bad uninformed tweet on the other side of the globe. I definitely can personally learn from this song too, because sometimes I’m guilty of what I just wrote. Sit Here and Love Me goes a long way.

Caroline Spence Website

I know it’s way too obvious and an awkward transition, but next this train travels to Austin, Texas and I’m going to post Sit Here & Cry from Kathryn Legendre. Just because I love both of these songs and they just fit well under the same post. At least Jake Nyman would be proud of me. Kathryn Legendre is a wonderful country singer-songwriter and her great new EP Making It Up came out on the 17th of May on Shotgun House Records.

Kathryn Legendre Website

Every now and then also Finland delivers high quality roots music. At the moment, I’m personally excited about the forthcoming Iron Country Sisters debut that is due out this fall on Soit Se Silti. The latest single Leaves came out on the 24th of May and it’s another winner with engaging lyrics and eternally beautiful singing.

Iron Country Sisters Website

Closing up tonight’s post with one of the most courageous, powerful and important songs of the year. Emily Scott Robinson is a singer-songwriter from Greensboro, NC and her magnificent album Traveling Mercies came out on the 22nd of February. The Dress is a song that I love, but I hate that there is a reason for it to exist. She is a survivor of a sexual assault and the song tells that story and the fear and trauma it caused. I have no words so I just sit here and love this courageous song.

Emily Scott Robinson Website

Four Arms to Hold You is an ongoing feature with a weird name. It might not contain a whole lot of words, but it does contain a whole lot of love towards the featured songs. Basicly this is just four albums / songs / artists that have done their part in holding me together and therefore I want to tell the world or the seven readers of this blog how much I love them. Not entirely sure do these kind of posts serve any kind of purpose and I do hope I manage to write longer posts too. Right now it just feels like the playlists and these kind of short posts are the only way to keep this dear hobby alive. Plus it’s really the music that matters, not my random ramblings and these posts will always contain magical music.

I’ve been super slow with my blog writings, but this time I wanted to quickly feature the album that matters the most to me right this minute. It comes from Eau Claire, WI and it’s the new Shane Leonard album Strange Forms that just came out on the 31st of May. It’s starting to look like Shane Leonard is going to rule my year end lists in December, because this solo album is a lock just like the albums he produced for Anna Tivel and Clara Baker (probably Her Crooked Heart too, but haven’t listened to that enough at this point). Anyway, Strange Forms is now out and available and it’s a tremendous album full of beautifully arranged warm-hearted folk songs. Title track Strange Forms and Postcard Laundry are the (should-be) hits and Maybe Next Year takes my breath away. Everything else works too. Extremely highly recommended.

Shane Leonard Website

Next I am again stepping into the Keeled Scales treasure vault to dig up the beautiful new album from Australian songwriter Jo Schornikow. This softly shining and quietly mesmerizing album carries a name Secret Weapon and came out the 29th of March. This is my personal favorite song Martingale.

Jo Schornikow Website

The label of the previous pick came from Austin, Texas, so let’s stick there for a little while to enjoy a magnificent song from the new Adam Ostrar album The Worried Coat. This lovely work of art came out on Super Secret Records on the 5th of April. Personal favorite is the gentle sway of Bloody Waves and you can listen to it below. However, this just one side of this engaging story that ranges all the way to 70s British folk vibes. So take a moment or two and spend it in the comfort of The Worried Coat.

Adam Ostrar Website

Wrapping up tonight’s Four Arms to Hold You story with one of my favorite songs of the year. Joanna Sternberg is a New York-based songwriter and her new album Then I Try Some More is due out on 12th of July on Team Love Records. My expectations are sky high, because I’ve loved both advance singles that have been released so far. This is the powerful first single This Is Not Who I Want To Be.

Joanna Sternberg Website

Four Arms to Hold You is an ongoing feature with a weird name. It might not contain a whole lot of words, but it does contain a whole lot of love towards the featured songs. Basicly this is just four albums / songs / artists that have done their part in holding me together and therefore I want to tell the world or the seven readers of this blog how much I love them. Not entirely sure do these kind of posts serve any kind of purpose and I do hope I manage to write longer posts too. Right now it just feels like the playlists and these kind of short posts are the only way to keep this dear hobby alive. Plus it’s really the music that matters, not my random ramblings and these posts will always contain magical music.

Beginning tonight’s journey through music from Oakland, California with a spectacular live performance from Nika Aila States. She releases music under the name red steppes and her new album Arcs will be released this Friday 31st of May by Native Cat Recordings. This is a mesmerizing live version of album outtake Madera.

red steppes website

Crossing the pacific and moving to Auckland, New Zealand for the new Reb Fountain single Faster. I’m quite new to her music and I am still in the middle in the process of introducing my heart to her songs. However, it’s been a really good match during these first few months I’ve had her songs on my side. Faster is the first single and outtake from the forthcoming Reb Fountain album that is due out on the 27th of September.

Reb Fountain Website

Next stop Toronto, Canada where songwriter Anna Horvath aka Merival is getting ready to release her debut full-length Lesson on the 21st of June. You can already find three excellent singles from her bandcamp. My personal favorite is the latest one No Brakes. Max Parr also directed a gorgeous music video for this moving song. Watch it below and check out the other beautiful songs on her bancamp page.

Merival at Facebook

Final destination tonight is New York and the songs of Erin Durant. I’ve been planning to make a some sort of Keeled Scales special feature, because the label is having such a strong year. I still might do that special too, but let’s begin by sharing a single or two from the forthcoming Erin Durant album Islands that is due out on the 21st of June. All three singles have been enchanting, elegant and timeless and I can’t wait to hear the whole record. This one is going to be a beautiful treasure.

Erin Durant Website

Four Arms to Hold You is an ongoing feature with a weird name. It might not contain a whole lot of words, but it does contain a whole lot of love towards the featured songs. Basicly this is just four albums / songs / artists that have done their part in holding me together and therefore I want to tell the world or the seven readers of this blog how much I love them. Not entirely sure do these kind of posts serve any kind of purpose and I do hope I manage to write longer posts too. Right now it just feels like the playlists and these kind of short posts are the only way to keep this dear hobby alive. Plus it’s really the music that matters, not my random ramblings and these posts will always contain magical music.