Anyone who was listening to independent music back in the 1980s and 1990s might find it surprising to learn which determinedly non-mainstream bands from that era resonate with the youth of 2026. My Bloody Valentine are selling out arenas. Cocteau Twins have influenced everyone from Chappell Roan to Wolf Alice. Mazzy Star’s dolorous ‘Fade Into You’ has now amassed more than one billion streams on Spotify.

Cowboy Junkies divine better than most some dark heart of North American loneliness

Cowboy Junkies divine better than most some dark heart of North American loneliness

Cowboy Junkies could be forgiven for feeling aggrieved not to have picked up a little more of that kind of traction. Before Mazzy Star emerged with a somewhat more acid-fried take on hushed, spectral quietude, in 1988 Cowboy Junkies released the record which remains their Ur-text. Recorded in one day on a single microphone, The Trinity Session offered a new take on narcoticised country-blues, one which found common ground in everything from Hank Williams to the Velvet Underground. The sound was stark, beautiful and bewitching. Five years ahead of Mazzy Star and ‘Fade Into........

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