In our modern day world where the biggest struggles are whether to use text, whats app or Facebook to contact your friend, which Netflix series to start next and which takeout to order from, we must do our best to enjoy the earthly and sensual things in life.

So when I first heard Seasonal Hire, the new Steve Gunn and the Black Twig Pickers LP, I did just that. There’s music to sing along to, there’s music to dance to and then there’s music to take you on a magical, spiritual journey. Seasonal Hire is the latter and in some ways even better than Steve Gunn’s much raved about Way Out Weather record from last year. There’s nothing revolutionary about the old-time sound the Black Twig Pickers create but something about the blend between themselves and Gunn makes for what can only be described as the perfect concoction so; turn down the lights, sit back, spark up and get all lost in the banjo-plucking, violin-gliding majesty of Seasonal Hire.

This is a certainty for the vinyl collection and an early contender for my album of the year.

-Stan Raymonde