At her new best, Peyroux sings as elegantly as Peggy Lee and writes lines bearing the downbeat clarity of Leonard Cohen. [Apr 2009, p.98]

Lapalux has joined the ranks of contemporary electronica's finest, like Flo Lo himself. [Apr 2013, p.95]

Taylor's beseeching voice and invigorating take on gospel is sincere and moving. [May 2013, p.96]

His newest group find hum as ever ricocheting between rusty rock'n'roll and perfect pop melodicism, the title track to their debut album adding string-adorned country-psych to his CV, while the rest of his contributions finding him on his strongest form. [Mar 2011, p.1010]

A surprisingly stark yet passionate affair, with just enough unorthodoxy to suggest that a multilayered musician lurks at its roots. [May 2015, p.94]

While personal and sexual politics were always implicit within Taylor's bovver girl workouts, her words have grown tougher and sharper. [Oct 2021, p.89]

It is the sound of an introverted man reaching out to the workd and speaking uits language. [Oct 2009, p.102]

The best Orbital album since 1994's Snivilisation? Certainly. [May 2012, p.87]

Sculptor yields centre-stage to Randell's haiku-like celebrations of human spirit and suburban transcendence. [Aug 2018, p.94]

It's a mark of Shauf's talent that songs this deft could ever have been left to gather dust. [Dec 2021, p.92]

Absence finds New Orleans trumpeter Blanchard and regular band E Collective effortlessly shifting textures, with disguised flares of long notes and high blasts casting fresh melodic light on much-covered works Fall and Diana. [Nov 2021, p.89]

These 14 songs mostly charm and world-build in under three minutes. [Sep 2025, p.79]

Armon-Jones's fiery soloing is intrinsic to the headnoddable whole. [Oct 2019, p.91]

Musca is far more than filler. Opening with the crunching sweep of two Doors, Herbert sets sail on a (wonky-ish) 4/4 course. Hypnotised is moody, throbbing house with a UK garage skip. [Nov 2021, p.91]

The Alabama five-piece, alongside producer David Cobb, totally cut loose, upping the octane to hard rockin’, guitar crunchin’ Southern gospel soul. [Sep 2024, p.86]

At its best, a healthily camp, good-spirited fusion on Abba and Blondie. [Sep 2014, p.98]

Life On Earth is a compassionate, humane record at a time when it can only be a gift. [Mar 2022, p.78]

[A] flawed but magnificent album. [Nov 2015, p.88]

Another game-changer; via a 13-piece ensemble. [Jul 2023, p.82]

This is one darkly alluring trip. [Mar 2006, p.108]

A bold and encouraging modern pop debut. [Nov 2013, p.90]

His most impressive skill is echoing the laid-back charm of Bill Withers and the melodic instincts of Stevie Wonder. [Dec 2006, p.104]

A rump-shaking whole. [Feb 2017, p.99]

John B Sheff's wavering, sometimes overwrought, vocal takes getting used to, but it's worth it for songs like these. [Mar 2008, p.108]

His previous album Midnight At The Movies was good, perhaps not Americana Music Award-winning good, but I'm not in charge. This one, However is way better, an album I wanted to play again as soon as it was done. [Oct 200, p.101]

You don’t need to know how many times and ways Wilco addressed these songs over two years to be dazzled and moved by the madrigal-guitar and astral-piano dance in Muzzle Of Bees, or the jaunty pop-psych bait of Handshake Drugs with its undercurrent of helplessness and allusion to Tweedy’s own battle with prescription medication (soon won through rehab). But it’s an instructive windfall in dedicated experiment and resolve. [Mar 2025, p.94]

A masterclass in sound design, Bolted creeps up slowly then engulfs you. [Dec 2023, p.91]

They've made their finest LP since 1995's "The Charlantans." [June 2008, p.112]