Rachel Kane - Holler at the Wind (2025) Hi-Res

Winnipeg, Canada. After two decades away from music Rachel Kane, who is from Neil Young’s birth city of Winnipeg, Canada, returns to a much altered world: for one thing, she’s now a grandmother; for two, her son Adam, who goes by Beatox and who has released three albums of his own, produces the record and adds percussive beatboxing underneath Kane’s lyrics. That’s to say, son is literally supporting mum.

‘In the Beginning’ kicks things off with some self-reflection over a 12-bar blues, while ‘Weather the Storm’ sounds suitably earthy and insistent: “Mother Earth is dying” and “a smile’s worth a million tears” both show how deep a thinker Kane is. Her voice conjures up the same sort of mood as Kirsty MacColl’s does, given that it is both poppy and folky, especially on the single ‘Follow You Down’.

‘Pace Yourself’ is a warm song with plenty of mandolin and a pretty melody that matches the birdsong Kane tells her addressee to listen out for, while ‘Get Your Head Up’ (“sometimes we bend, sometimes we mend”) could only be written by a (grand)mother keen to pass on her wisdom to make the world a better place; again, the musical setting is sublime and it feels apt to listen to this while sitting cross-legged on the floor of a folk club.

The title track is a song about dealing with change and keeping on keeping on, a lesson Bob Dylan preached 50 years ago. ‘Never Said Goodbye’ alludes to “things that made no sense” in a way that will chime with many listeners, and this time it’s a banjo that intertwines with Kane’s vocals. The instrument returns on ‘Win or Lose’, where one of the lost items she “can’t replace” is a one-of-a-kind painting. It’s the kind of song only someone who has won and lost plenty of things over the years can sing.

Kane counters the title of ‘Still There is Love’ with a sardonic “but not today”, while she sings of being “loved and loved in return” on ‘Over and Over’. Closing track ‘Be Alright’ features Beatox taking the title hook and contributing a rapid-fire rap over a nu-soul arrangement, which makes me think Kane should collaborate with someone like The Roots or Erykah Badu next, if not on a full album of collaborations with Beatox.

This is an album to hold close and take with you as you go through life. It’s full of warmth and tenderness, and there is not a note out of place.