Male Bonding brilliantly transpose their neighbourhood's scrufffy, rule-breaking fashion ethos into an exhilaratingly melodic breed of post-hardcore punk rock. [June 2010, p. 96]

The on-stage versions bring genuine human warmth--healing even--to Vulnicura's raw emotional truths. [Sep 2016, p.99]

O'Neill has locked into humanity's flawed relationship with nature. But there's celebration too. [Mar 2023, p.92]

Georgia Blue's diversity of Georgia sounds sits well with its campaign for inclusivity. [Jan 2022, p.86]

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

Passage surges, subsides and enthralls like a Gothic Sigur Ros. [Jun 2012, p.93]

Everything Harmony us certainly a darker chapter in the Twigs' story, but their songwriting has become more nuanced. [Jun 2023, p.90]

They may be musical magpies but what they build from their stash is gold. [Oct 2012, p.95]

Their anarchic cut'n'paste confections can baffle on first exposure, but with repeat listens the inventiveness of their compositions come to the fore, savvy hooks materialising from the seeming chaos of loops and samples. [Jul 2023, p.84]

U2's strongest album this century. [Jan 2018, p.86]

Baroque pop at its most exhilarating. [Mar 2021, p.89]

Quite stunning. [Jun 2006, p.112]

Other artists covered include Gnarls Barkley, Tom Waits and Neil Young, but this is Bettye's record, these are her songs now. [Nov 2012, p.86]

[The 50 outtakes] are not fore the casual listener.... The big find is the rambunctious Mardi Gras party-style I Shall Sing, a small 1974 hit for Art Garfunkel but never released by Morrison until now; Van unsurprisingly give the tune a more soulful treatment. [Nov 2013, p.98]

Hubbert's ornate acoustic fingerpicking and flamenco flourishes are an ideal foil for Moffat's un-showy storytelling skills. [Jan 2019, p.92]

On Fenian they back that shrewdness with songs of depth and substance. [Jun 2026, p.90]

Delicate, inventive and deeply, deeply touching. [Mar 2019, p.95]

It's sonically deeper and more emotionally engaging, from start to finish, than any previous SOK release. [Jun 2021, p.83]

While these tales may have been found in far-flung places, they all ultimately belong to the same deep tradition--and one where unvarnished simplicity enhances the material's uncanny potential. [May 2018, p.94]

Their full-length follow-up to 2007's "Burning Off Impurities" is a multi-textured out-rock masterpiece. [Jan 2008, p.101]

A deeper dive into the grooves pays substantial dividends, not just with Doherty's impermeable gift for melody and neat turns of phrase but the intriguing torrent of witty self-examination. [Jun 2019, p.86]

There's little point in denying trip-hop's influence here--the bass on Yr Olaf is undiluted Massive attack-- yet Lisa Jen's vocals and Martin Hoyland's gitar create an eerie reverie all of their own. [Jun 2016, p.90]

Creatively, Reward is on point. [Jun 2019, p.89]

Grace only had 10 songs, and though it seems tiresome to sit through multiple live versions of 'So Real,' the title song, 'Hallelujah' et al, it's not. [Aug 2009, p.118]

It may seem an unlikely match, but Martin and Brickell bring out the best in each other. [Jun 2013, p.93]

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]

Goat Girl grapple with strings, makeshift choirs, electronics and mellotron in a quietly exploratory set of off-centre tunes and potent lyrical questioning. [Jul 2024, p.92]

The album gels and is unexpectedly airy: with its souffle-light facade and full-fat core, this is a delight. [Dec 2025, p.83]