Kevin Bryan delivers his verdict on some of this week’s CD releases.

The Hello Darlins,”Go By Feel” (Self released)- “Go By Feel” is the eagerly anticipated debut album from Canadian roots music collective The Hello Darlins, with creative mainstays Candace Lacina and Mike Little bringing the experience that they’ve accumulated during a career spent working with everyone from Shania Twain to B.B.King to bear on one of the most heartfelt and affecting collections of songs that I’ve heard in many a long year. The husband and wife pairing have assembled a stylish and sympathetic group of sidemen to underpin their sterling efforts here, with prime cuts such as “Aberdeen,” “Prayer For A Sparrow” and “Still Waters” supplying an eloquent introduction to this exceptional outfit’s heady fusion of country,blues and gospel influences.The Hello Darlins’ musical vision should continue to expand and develop when normality finally returns and they’re able to take their material on the road in the months to come.

Judie Tzuke,”The Cat Is Out” (Talking Elephant)-This splendid CD re-issue focusses attention on an unjustly overlooked mid eighties offering from Judie Tzuke.The distinctive singer-songwriter had faded from the limelight a little by this stage of her career, and “The Cat Is Out” found her working within the confines of her home studio as she joined forces with legendary New York session drummer Andy Newmark to deliver an atmospheric pop-rock collection boasting eerily memorable gems such as “I’ll Be The One,” “This Side of Heaven” and “Girl Without A Name.”

Stripmall Ballads,”Distant” (Self Released)- Sparse,understated balladry is the order of the day as Phillips Saylor Wisor unveils the latest album released via his alter ego of Stripmall Ballads. Treading a path once followed by the likes of Cisco Houston and Woody Guthrie, Wilsor chronicles the flipside of the much vaunted “American Dream” as he peoples his deeply affecting creations with a parade of doomed characters whose fate seemed to have been determined long before they reached adulthood. “Susan at the Crossroads,” “Pull Over Johnny” and “Don’t Mind Me” are the best of an excellent bunch.