Joshua Burnside’s sophomore album ‘Into The Depths Of Hell’ plunged onto our laps on 4th September. The concise ten tracks are a beautiful balance of outpouring soul tugging lyricism and experimental musicality. Recorded and produced by Burnside himself in his Belfast studio, the album’s demos were first criticised, then encouraged by the late Stephen Lyons of Quiet Arch. The experimental alt-folk collection is, as Burnside notes “much more myself” and “leans into my faults as a producer. I had no idea what I was doing so I made it sound really bad, but that’s how I like it”. There is no need to hold Burnside up to a standard set either by himself or anyone else’s expectations. After starting out playing indie folk, he wrote his 2017 Latin gothic debut album ‘Ephrata’. Now, expected to repeat this proved successful formula, ‘Into The Depths Of Hell’ moves sideways in favour of the unknown.