Easy it is to accept the rise of folk music releases in the early months of the year; it does not diminish the great work releasing. Its purpose goes beyond that of seasonal sentiment, but it laps up the period all the same. The Ocelots and Chris Brain had this benefit in 2025, and for 2026, Ye Vagabonds look to pull at the need for warmth in an otherwise cold world. Stripped-back storytelling, the idyllic tone and simpler charms are taken for granted by some listeners. All Tied Together serves as a rewarding listen, a reason to take note of what is a thoroughly stripped-back tone, one which is best built by those who find influence and inspiration from the land around them. Ye Vagabonds has offered that consistently over the years. It’s both refreshing and reassuring to hear they still do that on All Tied Together, their fourth album. Slices of life are what this folk duo offers, and it puts them on par with their peers.
Take a listen to the bailiff-smashing thrills of The Flood, for instance. Folk music does not need to convey an idyllic setting all the time, and All Tied Together does well to get a balance between the inevitable, natural beauties, and life’s harsher touch. Succeeding with that is no small feat, and yet Ye Vagabonds prevails. Crucial to all of this is the instrumental flourish. Deep-sounding instrumentals which have such a remarkable volume to them, a higher vocal pitch than anticipated is both disarming and perfectly positioned to bring in those harsher messages. There are uncomfortable truths laid bare across All Tied Together, and that’s a crucial reason to listen in. Few folk albums are bringing about a tough comment and a reassuring notion simultaneously. Songs of abandonment, like I’ll Keep Singing, rely on that delicacy, that desperation which comes in the absence of a loved one or lived-in experience. Charming work all the same, that much is a constant.
Ye Vagabonds are keen to let the silence work for them on Gravity, and it adds that sought after depth. It’s a staggering example of what you can do with just the essentials at your disposal. Delicacy is a tricky style to make good on across an album. There are moments which will soften so much they’re lost entirely, but All Tied Together manages to maintain interest in subtle tonal changes. It’s what makes the difference for the likes of Mayfly and Young Again. Pops of positive-sounding acoustic work on Young Again are contrast well with the commentary of being better than others. Short and sharp pieces like this are a thrill to hear. Ye Vagabonds have a clear understanding of the genre, but more important than that is knowing how to dish out some of the more effective, charming moments.
Consistency is utterly crucial here and that’s what Ye Vagabonds offers across All Tied Together. We take for granted how tricky it is to nail the atmosphere of a contemporary folk release, especially when so many can do so, but are not at all involved in the sentimentality necessary to take the piece that much further. You can hear that in an impressive triple bill of tracks which rounds out All Tied Together. Charmed, consistent, and crucially, with a voice of their own to back those fundamental folk tones up, Ye Vagabonds presents a lived-in work here. It’s a difference maker, for those who want to hear the charms and quality of folk in its very best form. Long Grass is a convincing high, a song which summarises the tone and feel of the album so succinctly. Tremendous work in a genre where the effectiveness, the emotional strength, comes from the quiet.
