Smother sees this singular and intriguing group still on the ascendant--limiting notions of normal music notwithstanding. [Jun 2011, p.92]

Have One on Me is a very mature work indeed, even its resonant, discursive themes are underpinned by Newsom's usual playfulness. [Apr 2010, p.90]

It fits easily alongside Daptone's funky analogue repertoire. [Feb 2012, p.110]

Ba Power is all about intensity, force and electricity. [May 2015, p.92]

This is LaVette's album, start to finish: heterodox song choices, rearranged verses, tweaked lyrics--none of it gratuitous. [May 2018, p.90]

Sangare's voice is pushed to the fore. ... It's deeper and throatier now, and wise enough not to overpower the strings--but you can still hear the youthful street singer having fun on Kamelemba and Mogoya. [Aug 2020, p.84]

Rhys excels at holding anxiety and unease up to the light without becoming harsh; Seeking New Gods keeps that balance beautifully. [Jun 2021, p.83]

Five minutes in her personal company would likely be exhausting, but for this album's duration her brain salad music is fantastical. [Apr 2022, p.82]

Anderson's lyrics have rarely sounded more transparent. ... Autofiction builds its own emotional momentum as Suede, once again, write new chapters of their story. [Oct 2022, p.88]

This is, ultimately, music you feel in your body, your gut, your skull, a sensation of constant sonic regeneration and psychoactive power that, like the group's use of grim robes and smoke machines when playing live, survives on its enduring air of mystery. [May 2026, p.82]

A musical odyssey across a real and imagined landscape of mountains and cities, dreams and memories. [May 2005, p.95]

Awesome in scope and execution, it's an album that's ultimately easier to admire than it is to love. [Jun 2009, p.108]

If the circus-field antics are superseded by darker, sleeker dance-floor shapes, it remains a volatile, persistently disconcerting record. [Jul 2018, p.93]

The youthful buoyancy of Dogrel has ebbed away, there's a chill deep into the bones of these big, bold songs. ... Fontaines D.C. sound full of new life. [May 2022, p.93]

The quality across this neat primer demands the high star rating. [Apr 2010, p.112]

This is fresh music, making exciting shapes with primitive resources, and though some will find Longstreth's keening bleat and bravura deconstructions show-offy there are constant flowerings of devastating prettiness, and when all the singers blare in unison the beauty they summon is almost overwhelming. [Jul 2009, p.100]

This whole album is a desert rock classic. [Oct 2019, p.82]

A worthy snapshot of a band at its peak. [Dec 2005, p.104]

It's as good as anything in this group's monstrous catalogue. [Dec 2003, p.120]

It's the feeling of almost imperceptible menace that makes Bubblegum so unsettling. [Aug 2004, p.84]

Under Hval's microscope, the seemingly straightforward is anything but. [Apr 2022, p.83]

At times on this impressive debut Dan Willson's alter ego attains the celestial lustre of that holy grail of lapsed evangelical folk nouveau, the first Palace Brothers album. [March 2010]

A poignant portrait of post-industrial Britain - one that's leavened by some less-than-commonplace vocabulary. [Apr 2025, p.78]

Even at moderate volume, parts of Life Metal may loosen your neighbours' guttering. [May 2019, p.95]

His violin-led handiwork dazzles and swoons more than ever. [Aug 2019, p.96]

The energetic groove-riding results prove utterly compelling throughout. [Mar 2020, p.91]

Nuanced writing, full of tender challenges to lost souls, and Shelly's warmest sound yet. [Jul 2022, p.92]

Richey Edwards has his words set to the best music his bandmates have made since their last album together. [Jun 2009, p.97]