Joshua Burnell’s musical soul lies somewhere between 18th-century broadside ballads and 1970s glam rock. The York-based artist has won a loyal following with albums offering bold, at times fanciful updates on tradition, with stalwart favourites such as Tam Lin and Reynardine given elaborate arrangements in which Burnell’s Hammond organ and synths are central. It’s prog folk, if you like, though he can also deliver charming solo guitar versions. Alongside his instrumental skills comes a light, agile voice – he understands that folk is primarily a narrative form – and a flamboyant stage presence that plays well at festivals.
Burnell loves a concept album. All four previous records qualify, as does Glass Knight, on which folk influences fall away in favour of full-blown rock opera. Its theme is planetary apocalypse, its titular hero taken from an Essex legend about a knight who slays a serpent king. Tracks feature planets colliding, a couple facing the Last Rain and rueful admissions about the climate crisis in Played My Part. Much of it would fit comfortably in a Peter Gabriel-era Genesis set (though said group never wrote anything as catchy as Don’t Lose Your Faith).
