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]

The Caribbean funk that results, however, sounds unpredictable, i,possibly human and imperfect. Oh, and fun. [Sep 2020, p.89]

The Consuming Flame is rich, intense and deftly woven into three hour-long suites. [Oct 2020, p.91]

Reveals a confident desert punk classicism. [Sep 2020, p.94]

Good Luck, Seeker may not be the absolute best of Mike Scott's best, but it's well within touching distance. [Sep 2020, p.82]

A meditative, inward-looking affair, Freeze, Melt is best heard after a big night in. [Sep 2020, p.91]

There's nothing here to shock or surprise, but that's a major part of the attraction and Erasure remain a guiltless pleasure. [Sep 2020, p.91]

These are precarious songs, Oberst's voice as fragile as an egg, yet when it comes to songwriting, Bright Eyes remain a safe pair of hands. [Oct 2020, p.84]

Brandon Flowers' commercial appeal holds steady on Imploding The Mirage under producers 13 and 14 Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, who lather fidgety single Caution and When The Dreams Run Dry in fine '80s studio-wash. [Oct 2020, p.84]

For the most part Swift doesn't stray far from The Great Dylan Songbook. [Oct 2020, p.86]

Act as an instrumental coda to 2018's superb There's A Riot Going On. [Oct 2020, p.94]

Richly textured, panoramic celebration of the natural world. [Oct 2020, p.87]

Rarely less than poignant, with the composer's gift for aching earworm melody much in evidence. [Oct 2020, p.93]

Easy chemistry. ... Glasper and Washington fans may rue their idols merely playing in the back. [Oct 2020, p.94]

While her own solos have a fluent grandeur, Garcia remains as generous a leader as she was a collaborator. [Sep 2020, p.89]

Songs For The General Public astonishes and delights. [Sep 2020, p.83]

Protest songs can be dour, but Bradfield dresses lyrics adapted from the poems of Patrick Jones in his most ornately uplifting arrangements. [Sep 2020, p.85]

Writing her way into a new persona, our heroine emerges as a badass punk with attitude and cutely clever lyrics. [Sep 2020, p.87]

Negrito transcends his influences to create a new kind of hip, gritty, thought-provoking urban musical currency. [Sep 2020, p.83]

Here is The Stooges Mk I's answer to the James Williamson-era Metallica KO - ferociously exciting on the brink of collapse. [Sep 2020, p.99]

Strong mastery of mood and era, but the overcast ennui palls before the album's close. [Aug 2020, p.94]

Intimate, absorbing. [Sep 2020, p.94]

This is jazz in its loosest, least bridled sense, blurred to shimmering, impressionistic effect. [Aug 2020, p.91]

Short, spellbinding, almost painfully beautiful album. [Sep 2020, p.96]

It's certainly brave. Whoosh! is superior when guitarist Steve Morse and keyboard player Don Airey slip their leashes. [Sep 2020, p.85]

Refining rather than redefining. [Jun 2020, p.91]

Vincent's voice is so unusual and beguiling, it almost detracts from the lyrics, but they eventually punch through. ... Vincent and Another Sky enthrall. [Sep 2020, p.88]

Sangare's voice is pushed to the fore. ... It's deeper and throatier now, and wise enough not to overpower the strings--but you can still hear the youthful street singer having fun on Kamelemba and Mogoya. [Aug 2020, p.84]

Often you wonder exactly what you're hearing; you just know you haven't heard it before. [Aug 2020, p.87]

Creating a feel that blissfully reminiscent of Bruce Langhorne's instrumental score for Peter Fonda's 1971 western, The Hired Hand. [Aug 2020, p.89]

Decidedly bolder than 2016's Ellipsis, it is an album that revels in subverting expectations. [Jun 2020, p.88]

While Powell's bruised vocals evoke early Cat Power, she does remarkable things with that sound. [Sep 2020, p.87]

There's something likable and everyman about his voice, which sits easily with the variety of vintage country styles on these 14 new songs. [Sep 2020, p.87]

This is recycling as artistic endeavour. [Sep 2020, p.91]

Much of Hum has a brooding, measured Nick Drake-ish intensity, driven by fast, intricate folky picking. [Sep 2020, p.92]

Embryonic greatness, maybe, but still great. [Sep 2020, p.103]

Flaming Pie saw Paul McCartney critically asserting his place in the Fabbed-up mid-90s landscape. [Sep 2020, p.102]

Very sweet debut, a mostly acoustic affair. [Sep 2020, p.93]

Seasick's latest is unshakeably him. [Sep 2020, p.91]

Howl is most powerful on the aptly titled Everything Is Happening At The Same Time and the Yearning Strange Beauty. Seeing him play these songs live might flesh-out Howl's sometimes too-deliberate feel. [Jun 2020, p.94]

Those of a certain overcoat are assured a Proustian rush: distorted guitars, windswept austerity and Butler's rasp set to Triple Action Strepsil. [Jun 2020, p.95]

It's darker and more complex than their debut, but also bigger-sounding. [Sep 2020, p.80]

Her voice and band discernibly crackle with confidence. [Aug 2020, p.86]

Williams' forward-pushing, inter-generational sound - 70s fusion-era grooves mingle with modern club motifs - is fully formed on this second full solo outing. [Aug 2020, p.91]

With the voice of Linda Ronstadt and songwriting gifts of Joni Mitchell, there simply isn't anything to dislike about Old Flowers. [Jul 2020, p.84]

In Jessy Lanza's case, disruption has elevated artistic output. [Jul 2020, p.82]

Brief yet hugely entertaining debut. [Sep 2020, p.83]

McFarlane creates a series of vibrant storytelling soundscapes where her sweetly soulful harmonised vocals intertwine with woozy synth sounds and throbbing electronic rhythms. [Sep 2020, p.92]

This third-eye-for-the-folk-guy makeover suits them well, its 11 tracks filled with space and light. [Sep 2020, p.94]

The result is a rhapsodic work. [Sep 2020, p.89]

Ten spare, spacious folk-Americana songs, many of them lovely, and the instrumentation is subtle and beautiful. [Sep 2020, p.87]