Already certified doyens of Americana, Jason Molina’s collaboration with Centro-matic’s Will Johnson was always going to be powerfully accomplished, but none could have expected the achingly yet quietly beautiful result of Molina & Johnson.

Written just two months after the death of Molina’s Magnolia Electric Co. band mate Evan Farrell in December 2008, the album is clearly therapeutic, encompassing every element of grief. Wistful and nostalgic but at the same time accusing and confused, it is music to long for a lost lover to. This is epitomised in the heart wrenching ‘Now, Divide’ in which, though wordless, the listless anguish and fear can be felt through the pair’s melodic moans. The overarching sentiment is one of such human (though occasionally self indulgent) emotion, and the simple melodies and starkly bare instrumentation will linger within you for days. A gentle triumph.

Izzy Finbow