This set is sharper and fatter [than its debut].

Ocean Roar exists deep in extreme nature, a journey's end of madness, memory and Euphoria. [Nov 2012, p.95]

This is a unified album. [Oct 2012, p.91]

The growling menace of his [Jake Smith's] delivery is enough to command your attention and keep you believing. [Oct 2012, p.83]

The result is as good as anything Cale's delivered in years. [Nov 2012, p.91]

Their peppy, sensual synth-pop has merit. [Oct 2012, p.95]

Introspective, electic brain-groove of the month. [Dec 2012, p.86]

She sings the bejesus out of these big, open-hearted tunes, and despite some lyrics having a slightly gauche quality, you soon warm to the melodramatic hooks of Agony and the cleverly constructed pop-soul nugget Beauty Of The End. [Jun 2012, p.82]

Only Johann Johansson's airy decanting of Protest and two movements from chamber music Glassworks really tap Glass's sublime essence. [Dec 2012, p.88]

Their comeback is an even more demanding listen. [Dec 2012, p.87]

He's strong instrumentally, but maudlin content like Separate Ways and One Thought holds him back. [Dec 2012, p.90]

Dark, edgy, yet full of light and hope, Brother Sinner... is dazzling, moving too, and bordering on perfection. [Dec 2012, p.89]

It rarely rises above a sloth-like pace. [Dec 2012, p.86]

It's good to hear that force-of-nature voice again. [Dec 2012, p.96]

Forensically constructed, sad-eye pop with bright melodies of a Shins-like stripe. [Dec 2012, p.96]

[Moon Duo] channels Velvets fuzz-rock through Spacemen 3 drone on a psychedelic trip, with wah-wah and lethargic vocal drawl. [Dec 2012, p.96]

Alights a little too close to Gaga on saccharine opener Strawberry Shake. Persistence pays off, though. [Dec 2012, p.96]

A backstory so real you'll swear you've seen the flick. [Dec 2012, p.96]

The glossy, high-shine finish songs come with an air of post-club languor. [Dec 2012, p.96]

[The album] lacks anything distinctively their own. [Dec 2012, p.96]

The orchestral setting tempers the mannered vocal tics of some originals and proves transformative. [Dec 2012, p.96]

These guileless, well-hemmed songs could use a few more frayed edges. [Dec 2012, p.96]

The album certainly sounds fresh and is hallmarked by Spigel's knack of shaping memorable pop melodies out of a few notes or chords. [Dec 2012, p.85]

Blue Lines still goes above and beyond. [Dec 2012, p.102]

This is a formidable leap forward. [Dec 2012, p.90]

Winterval has glimpses of Walls' hypnotic, frostbitten, ambient beauty, but equal airtime is given to funkier, tech-leaning tropes. [Dec 2012, p.86]

Rossiter's tremulous, torchy delivery plays to the gallery, but beautifully, touchingly and sometimes exhaustedly. [Dec 2012, p.86]

It's still one giant leap into the unknown, with all the notions of genre once again gleefully sidestepped. [Dec 2012, p.82]