Spafford Campbell are twenty-something mould-breakers, fiddle player Owen Spafford and guitarist Louis Campbell.

The two first met as teenagers playing traditional music. The connection, they say, was immediate. The duo Spafford Campbell began playing live in 2018, prompting double takes with their delicacy, dynamism and seemingly telepathic exchanges, with the startling intimacy of musical conversations nurtured in improv-led writing sessions.

Their latest album Tomorrow Held is a visionary body of eight largely instrumental tracks that hold space, resolve into mystery, that fold in elements of jazz, post-rock and chamber classical music while raiding the folk music toolbox. Call it what you want: post-folk. Trad-noir. Folk nihilism. Then know that Spafford Campbell are blazing a trail that erases genre — and finds gold in the embers.

While redolent of Talk Talk’s moody, experimental 1988 opus Spirit of Eden, and riven with a Bon Iver-ish sense of transcendence, Tomorrow Held is a work of bold singularity. A whole greater than the sum of its parts — parts that include effects pedals, ambient cassette loops, flashes of electric guitar, electronic processing on fiddle and impressionistic accompaniment.

‘Mingling traditional tunes with influences from minimalism, post-rock and jazz, they shift moods exquisitely’ – the Guardian — 10 best folk albums of 2025

‘This is a fusing of the traditional and the futuristic that is quietly groundbreaking, and beguiling with it’ – The Times — albums of the year so far 2025, 4*

‘England’s finest and most innovative instrumental duo’ – Songlines — Top of the World, 5*

Local support comes from Quincey May Brown. Quincey’s second album Careful, Pockets is out now on Other Shoe Records. Marked by her distinctively tender vocals, acerbically playful lyrics and harp-propelled textural arrangements, DIY musician Quincey May Brown is a singular force. Raised in Northamptonshire and now based in Manchester, her songwriting has been praised for its depth and subtle humour.

Following the release of her debut album, Basic Surgeon, the new album expands on Quincey May Brown’s intoxicating exploration of both organic and non-organic sounds in unexpected ways. Quincey leans away from folk conventions, instead creating a world of strings, drones and woodwind, dancing to the beat of its own off-kilter drum. Careful, Pockets is a collection of stories on loss, human nature and childhood scrapes.

Kamera is the brand new venue upstairs at Lloyd & Platt (formerly The Lloyd’s) in Chorlton – by the team behind the Castle Hotel and Gullivers. The pub downstairs offers Indian street food by Chapati Cafe.

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