Mills is simply better (if still at times clumsy) when writing about more personal, spiritual or quasi-philosophical matters. K 2.0 begins very promisingly with the loose psych-rock stomp of ‘Infinite Sun’.... Not everything works that well, especially in the LP’s second half.

Lush, cathartic and surprisingly brief, Promise Everything is the record that makes good on everything Further Sky promised.

Nonkeen’s collective narrative may be charming, but more often than not the record fails to deliver on its many promise.

Despite perhaps being a little too tasteful to truly excite, Big Black Coat is an accomplished, soulful effort that will reward casual listeners and audiophiles alike.

Sometimes there's a feeling of business as usual--both 'Heathens' and 'Avalanche Of Light' fall into that category--but then when your legacy is as distinguished as The Cult's, such a trait should not be scoffed at.

The quality of the music is without question but the means of consuming it sometimes hinders the listener from soaking it in at a favoured pace.

The album bubbles and whispers along. You can listen to every word and every inflection or you can let it carry you--Foster's casual vocal style holds true for the lyrics, so each phrase is a shape as much as it's a fully formed, structured section.

Thought Rock Fish Scale is one of the most enjoyable and insightful albums released this year so far.

No lives will be changed, nor hearts broken, but it does what it needs to do satisfyingly well.

A welcome return, and one that hopefully signals a healthier and less troublesome existence in the future.

All three EPs--Junk, Dross and Dregs--featured in Resort hold their own standing alone--but when they are collated together it does have a feeling of doing it for the sake of it.

The diversity of the influences found on What Do People Do All Day? is both the strength and the weakness of the album--a fascinating and beguiling collection of sounds, ideas and influences but a collection which never seems to fully belong together in its own company.

All the same, nothing hits with the same succinct and simple impact as early wins like ‘List of Demands’ or ‘Black Stacey’.

The trio trade lines like they’re flashing secret handshakes to each other--it’s a complex process, fingers flying and interlocking, each gesture laden with meanings that an outsider can’t even fathom.

This is Acting has some good tracks on it and is obviously written by a very talented songwriter, it’s just not an album that demands excitement from its listeners.

The only real ‘surprise’ about Rihanna’s eighth album is just how challenging it is, not to listen to but to enjoy. Sonically, Anti is defiantly low key with very little to quicken the pulse.

Emma Pollock’s confident third solo album.

It's understated, yet incredibly ominous. This album should convince you that solitude can inspire great musical work.

As a debut album, it shows great promise and potential for what’s to come, as she develops her own style as an artist.

Here's a record that shows an innovative appropriation of sound that makes for one of the most exhilarating and original albums he's ever done.

Nevertheless, despite its impending theme of hopelessness, Suicide Songs delivers on every level--not least of which is highlighting Jamie Lee as one of the finest wordsmiths of his generation.

In the end, Hymns is quite a listless journey.

In your [Tricky's] other albums, the landscape would scuttle and drift, and you’d blink in and out as you willed; here the room remains a room, and yet you remain... well, I still don’t know what you are now. But that’s for the good. I like you better when I can’t define you.

The amalgam of Clark's one-of-a-kind vocal and Toydrum's inventive soundscaping would, under normal circumstances have Evangelist marked out as a modern classic.

Despite its hefty length, then, Atgclvlsscap works as a triumphant departure from the confines of the temporal.

Her lazy, beaten drawl is an acquired taste, and she wears her scars and bruises for all to see, but Lucinda Williams’ tear-stained tales are so vivid and evocative it’s hard not be haunted.

Make no mistake, these are all energising pop tunes, but by the time you reach the seventh track, you’re left wondering how many of them you can take in one go.

Though it has merit in the strength of its content, Pond Scum may be only one for the collectors.