Music in the North
Johnny James, Managing EditorWith 2024 nearly so last year, we’re flipping our calendar and taking a look at the musical highlights of early 2025.
Warm, intimate storytelling is the thread connecting our new picks, which include a number of brilliant folk artists.
At Night & Day we’re tipping Anna B Savage, whose new album – dropping at the end of January – is swept along by an abiding sense of calm. Just what the doctor ordered after the mayhem of December. The Weather Station also returns with a new album in January, with her gig at Band on the Wall the perfect companion to Anna B Savage’s own.
The Stoller Hall, meanwhile, is lining up two special shows with “Britain’s best songwriter” (The Guardian), Richard Dawson, whose forthcoming record strips away the big arrangements and production, letting the songs themselves shine.
You could say that classical music’s answer to folk is chamber music, and Manchester Collective’s new show Hidden Mechanisms is all about revealing its most exciting contemporary exponents. They’re performing at the RNCM, which has something of its own in store in the form of its Dance:Music initiative, exploring the symbiotic relationship between these two art forms.
But before all that, you do have your New Year’s Eve plans sorted by now, right? No? Well stop dithering and check out our New Year’s Eve guide, stat.
