The Soul Of The Hour rumbles onward with fearsome nocturnal dread, if paced with sufficient patience this time to allow the odd shaft of illumination to seep in. [May 2014, p.87]

With songs about Slits frontierswoman Ari Up and their inspired use of carnivalesque steel pans and soaring Bollywood-styled strings, it also marches to its own beat. [Jun 2014, p.92]

Deftly delivered and heartfelt, a career high. [Jul 2014, p.95]

Overjoyed suggest not only Half Japanese's own past abut also the pre-Television, Richard Hell-overshadowed Neon Boys. [Oct 2014, p.89]

The problem lies with the unrelentingly downbeat music. [Dec 2014, p.96]

The set includes seven songs left off This Note's, many now sturdier than versions previously issued. [Feb 2016, p.104]

It's a triumph for experimental chemistry: dramatic, deeply felt, dynamically designed. Minor Victories might've been put together at a distance, but it's all there. [Jul 2016, p.92]

Timeless fare presented with panache and enduring love. [Jul 2016, p.97]

The 52-minute suite was mostly recorded live, as Ray vamps, beautifully as always, through shivery glades of country blues, girl-group drama and Link Wray throb: this time around, she dwells at the shadowy end of the street, with less room for levity. [Jul 2016, p.93]

There's more meaty and time-honored blues extractions on the title track and the four-square Zeppelinism of Black Coffee, but somehow, particularly on Fade Out's balladic angular grind, these journeymen lack the emotional oomph to tear your heart out, or, indeed, shake your money maker. [Jul 2016, p.96]

Introspective, often forlorn and frequently mysterious, it's not an easy listen, but the delicate potency of Clarke's exceptional voice is a formidable saving grace. [Nov 2016, p.91]

This ace duets set builds around extant Miller vocals from vintage demos. [Nov 2016, p.96]

From the spooked synth attack of hellish 12-minute opener A Natural Satellite inwards, they do little to dispel those fears, robust drums and dirty organs underscoring the swaggering menace of Grace Jones and The Murder of Maria Marten. [Jan 2017, p.98]

A thing of dark, possessed beauty. [Mar 2017, p.96]

Sanborn's relentless modernism occasionally overwhelms Meath's sumptuous keening vocal and serpentine melodies. [Jun 2017, p.94]

Pulsing, hazy, addictive. [Nov 2017, p.100]

Grant sets aside his personal dramas for more absurd theatrical antics. [Apr 2018, p.92]

Morrison elevates his game on a set weighted equally between blues standards and visits to his own back catalogue. [Jun 2018, p.91]

Dance AM and Triangles carve a deep motorik opener; then rave euphoria and swoony breakdowns trail Lyubov Soloveva's vocals. [Jun 2018, p.97]

Mambo Cosmico is largely a carnival of delights. [May 2018, p.95]

Never quite hits that million-streaming sweet spot. [Sep 2018, p.86]

Stylistically, the album juxtaposes grungy art rock with punk-jazz, electronica, and hip-hop, though it's McCaslin's tenor sax and aesthetic vision that imbues Blow. with a sense of unity and coherence. [Nov 2018, p.95]

An equally intriguing mix of airy, modern indie pop, gauzy, gothic epic and plaintive folk-picking. [Feb 2019, p.93]

Basic themes remain unchanged. [Apr 2019, p.89]

Although the assured songs are beautifully framed by sparkling arrangements, To Each His Own suggests--as BNQT had too--Pulido is sidelining what might be more rewarding for listeners: getting on with Midlake to help realise his musical vision in a less obvious manner. [Apr 2019, p.91]

Inevitably there's a compilation feel, but Marshall's music brings coherence as it eases goth into the 21st century. [Mar 2020, p.92]

Tightly wound but eminently danceable songs with an earnestness that can seem a bit po-faced. [Apr 2020, p.96]

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