There's a real poignancy to waltz-time close The War, which is partly a tribute to the late Labour politician Jo Cox, but Gilmore also houses rally calls amid floorfillers. [Aug 2017, p.96]

The end result is a triumph; a late-night drive that starts somewhere in '90s Michigan but arrives home, in a gloriously disorientating future. [Aug 2017, p.90]

It has a head, a tail and a massive great beating heart. [Nov 2017, p.92]

Field Music's most ambitious album yet. ... A consummate success. [Feb 2018, p.88]

Throughout, Joan still sounds as bewitched, bothered and bewildered by love, a timeless sensation that transcends digital intervention. [Mar 2018, p.94]

All told, Dead Magic is Hausswolff's finest work to date; a record of remarkable potency and intent. [Apr 2018, p.87]

An edgy outing vividly redolent of downtown Manhattan--as was--this composed studio transition keeps OC's sawn-off edges intact. [Jul 2018, p.94]

Slightly mannered vocals; odd but good. [Sep 2018, p.96]

In Just Lie Down, grief gives way to wrath and post-hardcore freakery. While Soft Stud and Sam, A Dream have more blissful guitar codas that signify a resolution to her woes. [Nov 2018, p.94]

An intense journey from slow harmonic chants to minimal rave euphoria. [Nov 2018, p.91]

Think Jolie Holland, or P.J. Harvey's To Bring You My Love, and prepare to be entranced. [Jan 2019, p.90]

The result is 12 exquisitely dreamlike, personal songs that also work as Krgovich's coming out album. [Nov 2018, p.89]

Defiance, anger and desire fire his second set, a soul-dancefloor hybrid that soars past debut Brave Confusions' meld of influences. [Apr 2019, p.93]

The results have a classical loveliness--track II, particularly--while retaining an air of experimental unpredictability; both players are unafraid of disrupting the reverie with free playing and fractious tones. [Apr 2019, p.94]

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

Indie-folk lifers tackle the Prairie Home Companion canon, also bringing their ethereal close harmonies to Kanye West. [Apr 2020, p.96]

Kushal Gaya's vocal hooks bristle with political fury as polyrhythms jostle with George Crowley and Pete Wareham's brass riffs. [May 2020, p.95]

Galvanising, jazzy embrace of call-and-response tradition. [Aug 2020, p.94]

Love Is The King is determined to hold on tight to the good things while keeping a sharp eye on the mirror. [Dec 2020, p.80]

Gorgeous, enveloping music. [Dec 2020, p.80]

Lyrically she still falling in love, but the slow burn of Consequences reveals more nuance with each sitting. [Aug 2021, p.83]

Though-provoking yet full of fun, DePlume's willingness to dig dep has turned up a genuine treasure. [May 2022, p.88]

Branch's inspired improvisations, bold melodic leaps and bluesy burr of a voice buoy over Nazary's inventive, depth-charged beats. [Jul 2022, p.91]

Her torch-song voice is often exposed by spare arrangements - a solemn piano or glowing embers of electric guitar - but songs also burst into euphoric life, like exorcisms. [Jan 2023, p.91]

The album's abstemious drums help the untethered material breathe, and on point contributions include Lisa Hannigan, and fellow voyager Daniel Lanois, whose sombre instrumental opener Prelude To Song primes us for gravitas-laden songs of loss, warning, transformation and stoicism. [Mar 2023, p.92]

Neale is imaginative, but she's steeped in songwriting craft and she knows her way aound a whopping chorus. That's more than enough. [Jun 2023, p.90]

Baxter's third cracking album in a row. [Jul 2023, p.88]

To call it a mature album would be to take away some of the perennially youthful spirit of Mogwai, but it certainly achieves a crafted, discerning grace. However hellish it may have been, a baptism in The Bad Fire has clearly proved to be a renewing experience. [Feb 2025, p.86]