White's rage and fear drives the album's songs across any number of stylistic lanes. ... Which is good news for us, because their timeless fury is just what we need more of right now. [Dec 2020, p.82]

Enhancing the listener's wonder at her rapid evolution, shoreline to treetops in under four years. [Dec 2020, p.90]

An intense, trip-hoppy and orchestral examination of love in all its forms. [Dec 2020, p.88]

It's a beautifully eclectic one. [Dec 2020, p.97]

Symbols of hope still gatecrash his bruised world. [Dec 2020, p.80]

An album that's lighter on its feet than its closest relation, When I Was Cruel. Jagged but innovative and angry but wry. [Dec 2020, p.86]

Although there are hints of his alter ego GLOK's textured electronics throughout, experimentation is evenly balanced with his love of '60s classicism. [Dec 2020, p.86]

Some of its best moments, including Savannah's rolling, tumbling Lynard Skynyrd-style grooves, are steeped in '70s Americana. Others, though, are distinctly so-so. [Dec 2020, p.86]

This is music for interiors, sequestered days in tune with the beauty of our immediate surroundings. [Dec 2020, p.85]

Across a double album, Clarke's songwriting landscape can start to feel featureless, his big-sky country demanding tighter focus, more interesting rock formations. [Dec 2020, p.88]

clipping.'s finest refinement yet of their abrasive horror-rap. [Dec 2020, p.87]

Highlights a voracious creative appetite and their relationship's enduring strength. [Dec 2020, p.87]

Savour John Darnielle singing. [Dec 2020, p.86]

Loma are quite capable of drawing listeners in with their own perspective. [Dec 2020, p.86]

Posse-laden re-workings of deathless anthems Public Enemy Number Won and Fight The Power are suitably superfly; rehashing four tracks from 2017's Nothing IS Quick In The Desert less so. A welcome blast if righteous funky wisdom nonetheless. [Dec 2020, p.83]

The most cohesive Gorillaz album since Demon Days 15 years ago. [Dec 2020, p.81]

Love Is The King is determined to hold on tight to the good things while keeping a sharp eye on the mirror. [Dec 2020, p.80]

The vital spark that graced Fleet Foxes' debut is back. [Dec 2020, p.80]

Ultimately, what redeems Letter To You from notions of idealised nostalgia is the rigour of its performances, particularly those of Springsteen himself, who for the second successive album is in the singing form of his life. [Dec 2020, p.78]

Offers many perfect showcases for their ability to take lounge inside a groove 'til something remarkable happens. [Nov 2020, p.85]

Several songs here feel swamped. [Nov 2020, p.88]

The overall message is of gentle positivity. [Nov 2020, p.80]

Songs draws itself into clearer focus through Lenker's sweet, freshly-cut voice. [Nov 2020, p.83]

It's not gloom and vitriol, it's gorgeous. [Nov 2020, p.83]

It's an adrenalin rush to experience rather than listen to, and the 11 tracks are over too soon. [Nov 2020, p.81]

Punchier and more accessible, while still showcasing the sextet's psychedelic bona fides. [Nov 2020, p.84]

Something of a sonic lucky dip, these 20 short, super buzzy impregnably titled tracks often switch beats or cut-off abruptly, underlying its rule-breaking creator's rookie confidence. [Oct 2020, p.93]

Even without explicit elegies, there's a sense Morby is permanently watching something sink into the horizon, suspending what's left in beautiful songwriting amber. [Nov 2020, p.80]

This exhaustive reissue includes his [Bob Stinson] final contributions, though the real gold comes in their studio sessions with Jim Dickinson. [Nov 2020, p.95]

Her songs are beautifully, tentatively constructed, the arch quirkiness of her early albums now replaced by the lush writing of songs. [Nov 2020, p.88]

Here across 11 instrumentals, it's a totally entrancing journey as grooves are saturated by horn swells, eerie organ, bad-trip backwards guitars and drum breaks ready for sampling. [Nov 2020, p.83]

There's a Paul Simon acuity to Up With The Jones, a look at living beyond your means, going bust and being free. Wisdom Of The World steps right out of line, a feedbacky Hendrix-style howl that resolves into mellow catharsis. [Nov 2020, p.89]

Travis remain curiously unrevered, but 10 Songs is fine work nonetheless. [Nov 2020, p.86]

A lower case delight. [Nov 2020, p.88]

Despite no huge leaps forward sonically, there are some fantastic scenes set to song. [Nov 2020, p.83]

Their finest since 2010's Destroyer Of The Void - sees them concentrating on what they do best: songs that sound like The Beatles at Big Pink; songs that sound like Dylan gone power-pop. [Oct 2020, p.93]

Pare things back to an insistent Banshees-like boom and groove. [Nov 2020, p.90]

The fabulous final versions of these songs often haven't travelled far from their rougher cuts, possibly because Harvey's voice, matured into a sumptuous growl, anchors the mood in enough grandeur. [Nov 2020, p.94]

Prolonged exposure to this scattershot approach can be exhausting. In smaller chunks, however, Free Humans is exhilarating, and unpredictably so. [Nov 2020, p.89]

A compelling, grimy darkness ripples throughout. [Nov 2020, p.82]

The follow-up packs a whole heap more precision ramalama. ... Top class. [Nov 2020, p.86]

If all of this sounds heavy gong, the soul and country moves and comparative lightness of the music throughout help to illuminate the darkness. [Nov 2020, p.78]

This solo instrumental album feels lighter in gates-of-doom atmosphere than previous work, but even so, whispers and echoes start to bounce off this record's walls, promising revelations at every turn. [Nov 2020, p.86]

In all, more a series of disconnected building blocks than a cohesive album. [Nov 20, p.89]

New York is one of Reed's strongest solo albums, with its tight focus, impassioned lyrics and spare, almost punky music. This is a deserved reissue, but the extras - a complete, energetic live rendition of the record from 1989, and some outtakes including he unissued The Room - are for fans only. [Nov 2020, p.92]

An immersive trip, if not one to take that often. Smith, though, is in her element. [Oct 2020, p.89]

An epic ride. [Oct 2020, p.87]

A confidently tuneful if nostalgic set. [Aug 2020, p.87]

ACR Loco lives up to its title. [Nov 2020, p.83]

Melodic snap and guileless sentiments. [Nov 2020, p.90]

In all, a very promising debut. [Nov 2020, p.90]

His wistful songs impart wisdom quietly, but on All In My Sleep gloriously lets rip. [Nov 2020, p.90]

Both beguiling and frustrating, The Ascension is complex, bold and oddly lovable. [Nov 2020, p.89]

We Are Chaos thrives when Manson ditches his horrorcore shtick and actually emotes. [Nov 2020, p.80]

Relying on her exquisitely malleable voice, slickly inventive production tics, and winning vocal support from south London's Sampha and Tanzania's Diamond Platnumz, among others. [Nov 2020, p.80]

There may be a couple too many mid-tempo chugs among Phantom Birds' 13 tracks, but Berry has a knack for lyrics that pick away at self-doubt and brave public faces. [Nov 2020, p.86]

Their most ruthlessly focused. [Nov 2020, p.88]

The results isn't just his best album post-Sonic Youth, but some of the best music he's ever released. [Oct 2020, p.90]

A second album of devilishly delicate songs. [Sep 2020, p.82]

Ultra Mono is the almighty sound of the do getting done. [Oct 2020, p.82]

Getting back in touch with his anger hasn't come at the cost of Mould's innate tunefulness. [Oct 2020, p.86]

This adrenalised debut's handful of instant classics is way above par throughout. [Sep 2020, p.88]

It's early days yet, but Fenne Lily might just be a major talent in the making. [Oct 2020, p.89]

The ragtime version of Wild World is perhaps a re-imagining too far. ... Father And Son remains monumental and intensely moving, however. [Oct 2020, p.93]

It doesn't work when she wails and chants her way through the closing Sun, but she's absolutely fearless, as rigorous as The Moody Blues circa Days Of Future Passed and as adventurous as Can circa Future Days. [Jul 2020, p.82]

An extraordinary 80-minute concept album. [Oct 2020, p.91]

Hectically enjoyable LP. [Oct 2020, p.87]

Baudelaire & Piano isn't instant, but it lingers like a vivid dream. [Oct 2020, p.89]

At times the effect is sinister, at others soothing and hypnotic, like fog-borne siren songs, or the ghosts of liturgical choirs caught high in the cathedral vault. [Oct 2020, p.91]

She walks us through iconic and barely known songs from her repertoire, inspired by the city. [Jun 2020, p.93]

The odd sappy lyric is mediated by a resonant Jim James-ish baritone. [Oct 2020, p.94]

Regular producer Dan Austin teases atmosphere, buries mysterious sampled speech and navigates the piano-led title track bank into Hacienda territory. What kept them? [Oct 2020, p.90]

If we force ourselves inside American Head, we find it full of intimate details that eschew social distancing. Breathe it in. [Sep 2020, p.86]

It's moving, cathartic and achieves new levels of sophistication. [Jun 2020, p.94]

The guests never distract from or overshadow the Malians. [Oct 2020, p.88]

Tricky's 14th long-player somehow matches anything in his catalogue. [Oct 2020, p.91]

A late-onset triumph. [Oct 2020, p.92]

Since 2010's Old Punch Card, he's added opulent modular synthesis to his armoury, a pursuit that reaches an accessible apotheosis here. [Aug 2020, p.89]

She ensures these songs keep it together. [Sep 2020, p.88]

A resounding and concise restatement of core values. [Jun 2020, p.93]

While the guitarist's chops are impeccable and his tone as fiery as ever, the stiff, unyielding charts tend to stifle him, hindering his spontaneity and that of his fellow fine musicians. [Jun 2020, p.95]

Great punk-funk (Faith), but the real triumphs are her alliance of Le Tigre-level sass and superior tunes. [Oct 200, p.94]

A charm offensive, rewarding casual observer with a supreme precis of Pollard's genius: the bombastic rock anthem rationalised into naive-pop jewellery. [Sep 2020, p.92]

Penn returns with a rare album, mightily played and poignantly sung. [Oct 2020, p.86]

Callahan's cast on Gold Record are notable for their kindness, and for the dignity of their discretion. [Oct 2020, p.85]

Shaman! strays from predecessor An Angel Fell's dark politics to explore more sprawling, introspective territory. [Oct 2020, p.87]

She sounds like a full band as vamping pianos, rubbery double basses, freeform vibes and skittering beats collide. [Sep 2020, p.85]

The 13 tracks of this marathon double-album offer surprising rewards. [Oct 2020, p.86]

Though the battering ram thrust of Sad But True takes some beating, other highlights are James Hetfield solo with orchestra on The Unforgiven III, and on (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth, SFS principal bassist Scott Pingel paying tribute to Metallica's Cliff Burton, who died in 1986 aged 24. [Oct 2020, p.86]

Occasionally, you yearn for Disclosure to take a rasp to Energy and roughen its edges, but their knack for canny hooks guarantees they won't be retiring back to Surrey any time soon. [Oct 2020, p.84]

A joy. [Sep 2020, p.84]

Despite these songs' sensuous abundance, deepened by McEntire's lush, chlorophyll-rich voice, there's a sharp modernity here. [Sep 2020, p.89]

Lina bringing the tradition, Raul Refree adding experimental soundscapes for her to play in. [Sep 2020, p.89]

In all, far more touching than we've been allowed. [Oct 2020, p.92]

Well-served by the sparse guitar-and-vocal arrangements and intimate, reverb-y ambience. [Oct 2020, p.84]

Melt!, a twisted dancefloor lament for the polar ice caps, is a reminder of Owen's ability to mine techno gold. But the highlight is Corner Of My Sky, a memorable collaboration with compatriot John Cale. [Jun 2020, p.91]

Simple, homespun arrangements shift between folk pop and folk rock with an emphasis on bittersweet. [Sep 2020, p.85]

Bold and absorbing set. [Sep 2020, p.82]