Tice’s quiet sparse video of “Walkin’,” which appears on his new album Motivational Speakeasy, out September 25, captures the spirit of a man with rambling on his mind.

Fiddler’s Pastime delivers a good time and illustrates Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’ ability to stretch out and follow her fiddle where it leads her as she travels brilliantly down various creative paths, illuminating our ways as we accompany her.

San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, violin; John Sherba, violin; Hank Dutt, viola; Sunny Yang, cello) reimagines “Which Side Are You On?” on their new album Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet & Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger (out on Smithsonian Folkways on October 9).

“Oh Amelia” celebrates Amelia Earhart’s and Tori Murden McClure’s accomplishments, revealing a vision of the yearning to reach beyond ourselves to be more truly ourselves.

The Texicana Mamas’ vision for their self-titled, debut album is clear: to celebrate their heritage and to bring the beauty of the music to others. Stephanie Urbina Jones says, “we wanted to be a voice for our people and our country; to follow the threads of love.” The Texicana Mamas is an album for our time, for it captures brilliantly the enduring beauty of small moments of our lives woven into a fraying social fabric in which love is the thread that holds the promise for unity and hope.

The deeply moving “Olivia” could easily be an anthem for these days when our lives rush down the river of time, lost in its churning waters that erase momentary delights—the first glimpse of the sun’s rays, the playful laughter of children, the slow blooming of flowers.

Anya Hinkle’s “Hills of Swannanoa” captures the beauty and mystery of the area around Asheville, Swannanoa, and Black Mountain, North Carolina, vividly telling a story of an event that shaped the lives of individuals and the community for years. Moving so adeptly between moods of light and dark, she brilliantly captures the ways that beauty often carries within it the seeds of its own destruction, as well as the inarticulate sadness that such destruction brings.

With “Horses in the Sky,” a song off her upcoming album, Long Day in the Milky Way (out August 14), singer/songwriter Kris Delmhorst explores the beauty and wonder that is always present, sometimes lurking in the darkest, most-consuming of shadows, wherein you have to look that much harder and hold that much tighter to every sliver of hope that flickers into view.

To pay tribute to Pete Seeger, the Kronos Quartet enlisted the voices of Sam Amidon, Aoife O’Donovan, and others to tell the tale in a sort of relay, with a new voice for every verse. The result feels like the song is posing a question that a community ponders, rather than being the rumination of a single singer. Indeed, in these challenging and often troubling times, many of us find ourselves wondering when we will ever learn.

Effortlessly complex string arrangements that sound simple and natural? Check. Powerfully astute songwriting that touches on the waxing and waning of love across time? Check. Seamlessly integrated electronic music components pushing the album further towards indie pop than you might think? Check. Laura Cortese’s strength has always been as a bandleader, shepherding an eclectic and interesting vision for folk, and the new album finds her even more at the fore.