Hamilton Leithauser

At the time I Had a Dream That You Were Mine was first released, the Hamilton Leithauser and Rostam were best known for their work in two of the most influential rock bands of the era: Hamilton as lead singer in The Walkmen and Rostam as the co-songwriter and producer behind Vampire Weekend. The inspired collaboration was born of friendship, and mutual admiration, but grew into a synergistic creative partnership that birthed a timeless album of beautifully evocative songs. I Had a Dream That You Were Mine is a delightfully immersive album, built around Rostam’s meticulous, expansive production and Hamilton’s distinctive, wild vocal range. Unlike anything either artist had done before, the album’s stylistic flourishes include doo-wop, country-rock, baroque pop, folk, and spellbinding torch songs. Together, the lauded musicians found a unique flair for the dramatic which made their handful of live performances a thrilling experience; ten years on, these rare live shows are not to be missed!

Rostam

Madra Salach

The past couple of years have seen Madra Salach become one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary folk, creating music that is both deeply rooted in Irish tradition and strikingly modern. Emerging from Dublin’s vibrant independent music scene, the six-piece first came together through informal pub sessions in 2023, united by a shared love of traditional Irish song. What began as musicians from different bands getting together to perform traditional standards has evolved into original compositions that seamlessly blends folk, experimental textures and raw, poetic storytelling.

Their songs draw equally from the centuries-old Irish traditional canon and the restless energy of today’s alternative music, combining harmonium, mandolin, tin whistle, percussion, guitar and electronics with powerful vocals and striking arrangements. The result is a sound that has earned widespread acclaim, with The Guardian describing the band as “an unexpected and beguiling alloy of purity, poison and potency.” Much of Madra Salach’s reputation has been built on their rousing live performances.

The summer of 2025 saw the band debut on the Irish festival circuit, finding fans through word-of-mouth. With every performance drew a bigger audience, captivated by their ability to move effortlessly between intimate, spellbinding moments and exhilarating crescendos. This year has seen them continue their rapid ascent with sold-out headline tours, major festival appearances across the UK & Europe and a growing international following.

Their debut EP, It’s a Hell of an Age, released in early 2026, takes its title from the opening line of “Murphy Can Never Go Home,” a traditional Irish standard that tells the story of an Irish labourer who spends his life working in Britain, gradually losing touch with his roots. Blending original compositions with imaginative reworkings of traditional material, the release reached No. 3 on the Irish Albums Chart and the UK Independent Albums Top 10 while earning BBC 6 Music playlist support and a celebrated Maida Vale session.

Newly signed to Island Records, Madra Salach continue to push the boundaries of contemporary folk while remaining unmistakably connected to the traditional songs, stories and storytellers that inspired them. They will also feature on the upcoming album The Songs of Shane MacGowan out this November which includes Bruce Springsteen, Primal Scream, Lisa O’Neill among others.

Sam and Louise Sullivan

Sam and Louise Sullivan are a brother-and-sister band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They grew up in Oregon, singing various old American and British folk songs that they learned at a school on an old farm on the Tualatin River. In 2001, they moved to New York and fell in love with traditional music, Sam discovering the mandolin and the guitar stylings of the Reverend Gary Davis, Louise playing fiddle at a weekly Irish session in Manhattan and singing in the Young People’s Chorus of New York. As a family band, they played everywhere from Carnegie Hall, to Housing Works Books, to sea shanty events at the South Street Seaport. As brother and sister, they endured long family car trips to Elvis Presely’s and Woody Guthrie’s birthplaces, contra dances in New Hampshire and old-time festivals back in Oregon. In college, Sam and Louise studied literature and visual arts, and then moved to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly (and Sisterly) Love. In Philly, Louise started her own ceramics business and Sam taught high school English. At some point, instead of writing poetry, Sam started writing songs for Louise to sing. Home recordings led to more live shows, as they set out to make a pop band, to try their trad chops on songs in the tradition of the songwriters they loved. Their first EP, Sam and Louise was made using a USB microphone during the pandemic in between loads of laundry.

Then they met Kevin Basko and Emily Moales, who taught them how to use recording equipment and helped them switch on the amplifiers. Nowadays, they rarely demo their songs. Sam brings the songs to Louise often for the first time when they meet up at Kevin’s house, where they play the song with an acoustic guitar a few times and then cut the take right away. They made Papier Mache, their first full-length, on Kevin’s reel-to-reel machine in South Philly. Last year’s Sweet Enough gained traction despite all odds. Playing and recording with friends – Kevin Basko (Rubber Band Gun), of History New Jersey, along with Emily Moales (Star Moles), and the drummer Jem Seidel – what they’ve ended up with is a band that wants to make sell-out-the-arena pop songs, but can’t lose its trad chromosomes. Despite the bright lights, Sam and Louise can’t shake their  love of folk ballads and 70 harmonies, or their admiration for bands like the Roches, Richard and Linda Thompson, singers and songwriters who know how to both rock and roll and hold the right note and performers who understand the pricelessness of blood harmony. It makes sense: their mother is a ceramicist who has created a self-taught, folk-inspired immersive visual language. Their father is a writer who has spent years chronicling the history and ecology of America’s highway rest stops and sludgy waterways. It seems like Sam and Louise are destined to carry on the family business. “It’s just really beautiful, well-crafted folk pop,” Jeff Tweedy says. “Just lovely. Lovely songwriting, lovely playing.” Their new record, Love & Devotion, has been stitched together across many late night recording sessions. Kevin forced them to sing through their ramshackle tunes, live and raw, and build out tracks that adhere to their intentional if wobbly cores. On Love & Devotion, Sam and Louise are trying – and maybe failing, but still trying, or trying in their own way – to go pop. No matter how hard they try, no matter how many digital elements they incorporate, they can’t manage to lose that sweet, old-time feeling.