it's unashamedly full-on, Cro-Magnon stuff, but this chaos is often glorious. [Apr 2020, p.87]

It's as though they've kept the whole catch, driftwood, prize-fish and all, rather than sorting through it. [Oct 2008, p.100]

Songs that initially resemble formless dirges, gradually reveal hidden depths, thanks to Desertshore's engaging backing and Kozelek's ever intriguing lyrics. [Nov 2013, p.84]

A challenging listen. But such is Blake's sonic invention and flair for extricating beauty from the murk, it's well worth sticking with. [Aug 2016, p.92]

More blood on the tracks might have upped the ante, but as it stands Tomb is still a gorgeous wallow, with producer Doveman's minimalist touches left to indicate cracks in the facade. [Feb 2019, p.84]

The 10 tracks rise and fall through burbling electronics and explorative jazz. [Apr 2021, p.88]

Throughout, frontman Stuart Murdoch's succinct dramas are typically populated by vulnerable dreamers and seekers, some still Young And Stupid (the opening track), others a reflection of how his Christian beliefs embrace the tenets of Buddhism. [Jun 2022, p.87]

Overall: troubled, unflinching, but tuneful and triumphant. [May 2024, p.82]

A record that soothes as often as it unsettles. [Jul 2012, p.88]

[Gentle Stream] is gorgeous sun-dappled psych, crossing the lighter side of paisley underground with Nick Drake's dreaminess. [Dec 2011, p.93]

It will either intoxicate or weigh down on you, or both, simultaneously. [Nov 2018, p.91]

It's an impressively elegant and expressive one. [Feb 2024, p.87]

Fuses Velvetsy heartbeat minimalism with pastoral strings and acoustic guitar. [Jan 2014, p.104]

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

The songs range from good to essential. [Oct 2009, p.101]

Willfully odd, beautifully hypnotic and with a wonderful lightness of touch: a straw poll of the office drew comparisons to Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire and Take That. [Feb 2010, p. 100]

When the songs are this well-crafted, we'll be back again. [May 2017, p.88]

Their masterpiece--the re-interpretation of Western rock history as some consenual power-prog dream narrative where Led Zeppelin and Soft Machine are more important than The Beatles. [May 2004, p.105]

Occasionally... there's a sense of things being too studied, the brain doing the work of the heart. [May 2003, p.106]

A razor sharp updating of previous themes. [Aug 2004, p.98]

It's messy, seductive stuff. [Dec 2003, p.113]

Her voice [is] a soft, soulful instrument that draws the listener in with seemingly minimum effort, then delivers whatever message she wishes to impart to willing ears. [Dec. 2011 pg. 94]

Simultaneously beautiful and uncanny. [May 2012, p.89]

There's a first-take feel, which the Horse are known for, and a whole lot of background harmonies, which they're not. [Dec 2022, p.84]

Within ominously booming coordinates often evoking Hans Zimmer-style soundtracking, dark-pop miracles reliably happen. [May 2025, p.84]

Amanda Shires has made the year's most emotionally raw album. [Nov 2025, p.86]

They serve up a tastier morsel with Mary Mary, a slab of tripped-out cosmic disco. [Oct 2014, p.93]

Fleshed out by two drummers, strings and brass, it's as infectious and disarming as it is genre-defying. [May 2011, p.109]