It's way too early to speculate on what might end up being my favourite album of 2026, though I'd put good money on Goblin Band's newly released 'Clyde Water' finishing the year as my favourite single. 'Clyde Water', a Scottish ballad dating from the early 19th century, has been interpreted previously by a range of notable artists such as Kate Rusby, Martin Carthy, Ewan MacColl, Anaïs Mitchell and Jon Boden, though for me no-one grasped the epic tale by the throat in quite the way that Nic Jones did. The song appeared on Jones' 1980 masterpiece 'Penguin Eggs' as 'The Drowned Lovers', an alternative title that is a bit of a plot-spoiler to be honest and indeed its original title was duly restored for the release of two subsequent live versions.
