Every generation needs an Art Brut. [Jun 2005, p.100]

Every bit as chaotically charming as its predecessor. [Nov 2005, p.108]

Wainwright nevertheless manages to make the songs her own. [Jan 2017, p.96]

Like most of ET's work, it's worth the wait. [Nov 2013, p.90]

What makes the album itself addictive is Isbell's fusing of gothic Memphis blues and Nashville tenderness. [Nov 2013, p.90]

Beautifully black. [Jul 2022, p.88]

Marries Gerald Clayton's vivid, painterly piano with Immanuel Wilkins' malleable alto sax and vibraphonist Joel Ross's heady melodicism, its internal poetry enhanced by Kendrick Scott's sophisticated drums and Matt Brewer's intricate bass. [Jan 2025, p.85]

Future Islands still sound thrillingly marginal, people standing on an emotional faultline, waiting to be swallowed up. [May 2017, p.94]

The Mudcrutch reunion is a refreshing tweak to the comfy old Petty band chemistry. [July 2008, p.108]

Comparatively standard tunes such as To And Fro prevent Strong Feelings from being an unconditional classic, but that's tantamount to dismissing Toronto's CN Tower as a bit pointy. [Feb 2014, p.91]

This record is looser and more organic, and a different sonic palette for Hynde. [Jul 2009, p.106]

Morby has delivered largely run-of-the-mill roots rock, but Singing Saw is more measured. [Jun 2016, p.91]

One of the most compelling [albums of his 15-year career]. [Apr 2012, p.95]

Gardner's sincerity, dexterity and lightness of touch raises this above a simple genre exercise. [May 2013, p.87]

This is a completist's delight in drab artwork. [Sep 2017, p.100]

Yes, they're flavour of the month, but they're the real deal too. [Nov 2025, p.88]

Travis remain curiously unrevered, but 10 Songs is fine work nonetheless. [Nov 2020, p.86]

Dusky, angsty synth-pop. [Apr 2004, p.103]

Sepalcure finds its feet firmly in Chicago - past and present - blending early house melodies with the insistent, skittish, deep bass rhythms of the footwork genre in an emotional electronic mash. [Jan 2012, p.99]

Makaya McCraven's alchemical abilities and subliminal technical savvy offer both a sensitive update of the Blue Note label's depth-charged catalogue and a welcome pathfinder for the uninitiated. [Jan 2022, p.83]

Abyss is a darkly compelling tour de force. [Sep 2015, p.94]

Throughout, Splinter's sound is powerful and dense, with The Offspring weaving and surging within it like the experts they've become. [Dec 2003, p.109]

This is a protest album and a damn good one. [Nov 2016, p.93]

Ever unpredictable and inspired, >>>> is anything but run-of-the-mill. [Aug 2024, p.81]

Her songs sound simultaneously safe and familiar, yet strange and unknowable. [Feb 2022, p.89]

Relationships with uncomfortable endings, uneasy attractions, and deep personal loss pepper Fullbrook's songs, but her Tiny Ruins bandmates consistently lift her into the light, creating warmth and depth rather than leaving the listener in endless gloom. [Jun 2023, p.86]

Equally comparable to Sleaford Mods' savage lo-fi and Leonard Cohen's fatalist poetry, Prince Of Tears is an outright triumph. [Nov 2017, p.94]

Gately's soft vocal melodies audible through the layers of madness, leading you to points of strange beauty and lyrical wonder. [Jan 2017, p.97]