These songs convey a sense of the work put into them, a sense of the world outside, but that doesn't undermine Big Thief's ability to lock in on something profound. [Oct 2025, p.78]

This defiant, death-defying record - as much joyride as memento mori - is the glorious reward. [Oct 2025, p.80]

Not a thrill a minute, but a steady antidote to chaos. [Sep 2025, p.83]

What's compelling is the precision and control of her voice, moving from a whisper to a scream on tracks like Broken Rib, or the industrial glam stomp rocker No Good For People. Lyrically, too, she has honed her songwriting skill. [Oct 2025, p.93]

Hard Headed Woman sees her big personality fire straight-talking, sometimes blackly comic lyrics "All the cocaine in existence/Can't keep your nose out of my business" - while taking her music to new places. [Oct 2025, p.82]

An electric chemistry courses through the line-blurring electro-acoustic hybrids of Hyperglyph. [Oct 2025, p.89]

As much as his guests shine amid his contemplative synth odysseys, it's the solo Njoku, stripped and vulnerable on Weapon that cut closest to the bone. [Aug 2025, p.84]

Richman sings with jaunty assurance in I Was Just A Piece Of Frozen Sky Anyway, the near-title entrance to his eighteenth solo album. [Oct 2025, p.86]

Gush's sticky, slightly unsettling sensuality suggest Smith is on a serious mission to get right under the skin if human connection. [Sep 2025, p.84]

Crowell's clear eye for detail is evident throughout, but what gives the album its kick is the lean, clean attack that allows both barroom ravers and haikus of Zen wisdom to linger in the imagination. [Oct 2025, p.89]

If the lyrics deal with wavering states of mind and quiet struggles, though, the music is sharp and direct, echoing Belly or Tsunami but also keeping pace with Lucy Dacus or Phoebe Bridgers. [Oct 2025, p.88]

EURO-COUNTRY is everything great pop music should be: smart, subversive and tremendous fun. [Oct 2025, p.88]

The title track, inspired by the band's current motto, is a powerful evocation of The Strokes going electro, while Path Of Most Resistance taps a kooky, Devo-ish guitar hook. If Your gym playlist needs refreshing, look no further. [Sep 2025, p.82]

Sherwood's most thrillingly exploratory solo album so far. [Oct 2025, p.83]

Altogether, a bold and beautiful record. [Sep 2025, p.78]

"Surprised" might not be the answer, but these big, generous songs still land an emotional punch. [Sep 2025, p.79]

Unabashed clever buggers, their seventh is where Water From Your Eyes let their hearts rule, and it's a glorious sound. [Oct 2025, p.86]

There's no arguing with Fogerty's singing either - nor his distinctive guitar; part anger, part mad joy, like he's playing mid-Apocalypse. As for the arrangements, they're pretty much can't-believe-it's-not-Creedence. [Sep 2025, p,86]

Shows[s] significant growth from 2023's more dream-poppy debut Erotic Probiotic 2. One senses this twisted R&B Baby Bird has even more in the locker. [Sep 2025, p.86]

Throughout, singer Ellie Roswell is a compelling presence, and the result is Wolf Alice's best yet. [Oct 2025, p.80]

Another of those Mac DeMarco LPS wherein a deliberately spare palette pays dividends. [oct 2025, p.90]

A delightful collection of woozy, folk-tinged, hallucinogenic pop. [Sep 2025, p.83]

There's some beautiful songs about the road. .... Opening track Everything Burns has a dark mood and some great guitar - Tuttle's guitar playing is more up-front on this album. [Sep 2025, p.81]

New radiations is not without moments of ponderous stasis. Nadler still shines as a spell-weaver and mistress of moods, though. [Sep 2025, p.79]

There are startling moments: the title track’s D&D blues-rock, for example, The Groundhogs doing The Tempest in a nasty basement; or Juvenile’s ice-rink keyboards, McCombs ennobling and mocking adolescence (“You suck/I suck/Primus sucks”). Other songs, though, creep up more subtly, such as Miss Mabee’s Elliott Smith hush, or Peace’s heartbreaking Go-Betweens valediction. [Sep 2025, p.80]

Though the full potency of this band is only ever manifest live, ABOMINATION REVEALED AT LAST - the Osees' 8th LP in five years - bears thrilling testament to their appetite for insurrection. [Oct 2025, p.88]

Highlights: Bird On A Swing's Glen Campbell moves and Lou Reed's gorgeous tribute to a "tai-chi Master". [Oct 2025, p.91]

The results are less out-there, but mostly play to Allison's strengths. [Oct 2025, p.91]