The first half rifles through their familiar bag of production tricks. .. The weirder and more diverse second side is where stuff gets interesting. [May 2021, p.81]

It's a subtly sophisticated piece, but it also creates space for Sanders to showcase his tender, measured, lyrical phrasing, abstracted scatting and, 34 minutes into this 46-minute marvel a brief sputtering blast of free saxophone energy that proves, at 80, his fire remains potent. [May 2021, p.87]

Limber, spacey music, pitched somewhere between jazz, funk and ambience, in the company of an innovative new class of sessioners. [May 2021, p.87]

The music still mainly tilts around their Coil-Anohni Axis. ... As always with Xiu Xiu, though, it's a lot, two heads just as intense as one. [May 2021, p.85]

There's real beauty here and Silberman marries eventual accessibility with gentle boundary-pushing to create his own, thoughtful world. [May 2021, p.84]

The London singer's stark acoustic covers album works best when furthest removed from the original. [Mar 2021, p.91]

Nelson has not lost any of his breath control and singular phrasing. [May 2021, p.78]

A jarring and gorgeous reminder that our suffering is neither new nor negligible. [May 2021, p.79]

At their most effortlessly eclectic. [May 2021, p.82]

Nourishing batch of beat collages. [May 2021, p.88]

Proof that inventive, envelope-pushing indie rock hasn't disappeared off the map just yet. [Apr 2021, p.83]

A bold work of divine and nourishing textures. [May 2021, p.86]

Owusu is a charismatic anchor throughout this boundary-pushing debut. [Apr 2021, p.85]

Seesawing between pristine songcraft and experimentalism makes for a diverse, satisfying whole. [Apr 2021, p.94]

As the album progresses, a powerful expansion of Del Rey's folkier inclinations. [Apr 2021, p.80]

Topaz conveys a strong undercurrent of social commentary. [Apr 2021, p.82]

Despite the classical milieu, this is very much Metheny music. [Apr 2021, p.87]

While showcasing a further surfeit of talents - Zongo Brigade's K.O.G., Ghanaian singer Pat Thomas, a rap-happy Soweto Kinch - could make Freedom Fables feel like a compilation, a wide streak of jazz connects the dots. [Mar 2021, p.90]

Might be one of the very best, and a neat entry point for new explorers. [Apr 2021, p.85]

It's Lynn's show, and she and the band are on fine form. [Apr 2021, p.81]

Remastered with a disc of rarities and curiously, a screamtastic bootleg-quality 1980 show at Tokyo's Budokan. [Apr 2021, p.97]

The idiosyncrasies of her voice are showcased to full effect in soul showstopper Call Me A Fool, with dramatic rasping and swooping that some might find off-putting, but which undeniably underlines her distinctive character. There's a delicacy too. [Apr 2021, p.80]

Throughout, a recurring Satie-like piano motif floats in and out, soothing the raw emotions. [Apr 2021, p.83]

The Pet Parade is calmer, folkier, and more accommodating to Johnson's pinched nasal tones. [Apr 2021, p.84]

The vocals are spot-on and so is the musicianship. [Apr 2021, p.82]

Adrian Younge's ambitious album splices all-analogue blaxploitation sounds with psychedelia. It's a volatile mix for songs. [Apr 2021, p.83]

Further expands ambient pedal steel's possibilities, adding strings and piano. [Mar 2021, p.91]

Waking The Dreaming Body is both welcoming comfort and a surprising joy. [Apr 2021, p.82]