EVERY so often you stumble across an artist so confident and clear-eyed that it’s obvious from the very first note they’re the real deal.

Such a one is Kirsty Bromley, whose Time Ashore (Kizzy Records) is so assured it’s hard to believe it’s her debut.

The young Sheffield native has a classic folk voice — pure and clear as a mountain stream — and is unafraid of putting it front and centre alongside her own considerable songwriting talents.

She begins and ends a capella, closing with the Maori song Taku Mana after opening with her own Caught Up on a Breeze.

“Will you notice me?” the first song asks, as Bromley vows to “fly away to my future.”

She duly hits the heights throughout a canny selection of traditional songs — the slow-burning murder ballad Two Young Sisters a standout — and gems from songwriters of recent decades.

Bromley adds affecting melancholy to One More Time by Paul Metsers, the New Zealander perhaps best known for Farewell to the Gold as made famous by Nic Jones.

An experienced band lend sparse but dextrous support throughout, although I really want to hear Bromley’s voice driven to another level by real full-throated harmonies.

For one, her lovely take on the title track, a nautical lament by Grimsby folk singer Bill Meek, cries out for a real gravelly bass to counterpoint her soaring lead.

But that’s a tiny quibble with a tremendously accomplished and sure-footed debut that marks Bromley out not just as one for the future but a tremendous talent here and now.

Meanwhile Alyth McCormack — better known as simply Alyth — has been around long enough that it’s a surprise to learn that Homelands (ANE Records) is only her third solo record of a 15-year career.

Collaborations with Lau and the Chieftains, plus a sideline in stage and screen acting, are among the diversions that have kept her busy but this has been worth the wait.

It’s a pan-Gaelic affair, reflecting on Alyth’s birthplace of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and her adopted home in Co Wexford.

And it duly ranges from Gaelic to English, from Irish standards — including a fine Raglan Road — to traditional songs shared by both countries, such as the dramatic opener The Lambs on the Greenhills.

This is a richly evocative piece of work that steers clear of the sentimental cliches that can easily drift into reflections on Scotland and Ireland.

When it comes to Scottish-Irish career longevity Alyth can’t hold a candle to the Boys of the Lough, who have been at it on and off since the late 1960s and boasted the legendary Dick Gaughan among their founders.

It’s a re-formation of sorts after the departure of long-serving multi-instrumentalist Dave Richardson. Original member Cathal McConnell remains at the helm, backed by talent including impressive young Shetland fiddler Kevin Henderson.

The New Line (BOTL Records) slots seamlessly in alongside their previous 22 records, a collection of jigs, reels, airs and songs ancient and modern from across Ireland and Scotland. A pure joy that should be top of the list for fans of traditional Celtic music.

Scotland’s Siobhan Wilson may have toured with Lau and recruited their fiddler Aidan O’Rourke to her band but there’s a jazzy, chanteuse-y air to her new EP Say It’s True (Reveal Records).

It’s a smoky, late-night record, all spacey reverb and Wilson’s breathy, intimate vocals. Well over towards the indie end of indie-folk but a captivating listen.