7. The BandThe Band

This record. It just gets you in the feels!  I discovered them in my teenage years – this was souped-up, folk turned up to 11. Made by such fantastic musicians too: Levon Helm’s singing and his drums, Garth Hudson on the organ, Robbie Robertson’s guitar, just fantastic. And everyone singing together, that feeling – it’s so hard to describe. 

Is it spiritual? Well, Mam and I weren’t religious, but some songs, like the gospel song, ‘Oh Happy Day’… you sing that together, it’s like you want to peel yourself open. There’s a pattern to all these albums, I’ve realised: it’s about meaning it, being together, but being an individual within a collective, and writing that, singing that, in your different ways.