A record sensational only in the best ways. [Jun 2006, p.103]

A bewitching brew of experimental jazz, droning electronics and raw, progressive rock. [Dec 2017, p.87]

A difficult record for many reasons, but an ineffably beautiful one, too. [Nov 20224, p.89]

A wholly unsanitised vision, where screeching white noise guitars eclipse thundering beats in a reverb dungeon far from prissy "Health & Safety" regulation. [Apr 2022, p.80]

Lurching guitar, chiming piano and stabs of overdubbed choral harmony are combined with vocals that swing from sweetly intimate to dry and flippant. [Mar 2024, p.89]

One to file alongside fan favourites Aether (2001) and Open (2013): records that initially appear starkly minimalist, but gradually reveal boundless, beautiful depths. [Dec 2024, p.85]

Expand their ragged country-rock sound, the strings, horns and choral backing vocals investing in Wriggins' frayed ruminations and road-weary baritone with a necessary blue-collar grandeur. [Sep 2025, p.80]

It's elemental Underworld, and their most generous work in years. [Apr 2016, p.86]

Haggard's now 73 and I Am What I Am is as good as anything he has ever done. [June 2010, p. 94]

This compilation is a reminder of the stillness and quiet power at the heart of his frank, softly sung confessional, of Smith's talent as an arranger and multi-instrumentalist, and of his able, Paul Simon-like finger-picking style. [Dec 2010, p.114]

It's not flawless, though it's damn good, and consistently engrossing. [Feb 2006, p.94]

This new project from Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg signals serious sonic intent but wears its experiments lightly. [Apr 2018, p.96]

[A] gloriously sensual record. [Sep 2015, p.93]

A desire to keep old traditions alive while redefining them for the 21st century drive Son Little aka Aaron Livingston, and with his excellent second album, he's achieved that. [Oct 2017, p.95]

This album doesn't have the blinding clarity of proper revelation but, in its febrile examination of survival and redemption, Oh My God is on the side of the angels. [May 2019, p.86]

It initially feels fragile, but Carvings is hard to shake off. [Feb 2023, p.84]

Ultimately, Afternoon X finds its strength in contrast: while the mostly languid pace suggests meditation, the lyrics reveal a theme of carpe diem. [Nov 2023, p.92]

It's a mess of ambition and avant overload, and often too much, but you can't help but admire The New Sound's Stevie Chick wild abandon. And while the whirlwind of concepts and sonic right-turns ultimately fails to cohere, its thrills are many. [Nov 2024, p.84]

Though the results are not always easy to take.... The sense of folk and country pervades each and every performance, saving the day. [Sep 2015, p.90]

Audaciously, it all coheres. The vision is precise and the execution meticulous. The album's 14 songs are tightly arranged and energetically delivered. [Sep 2021, p.81]

There’s an irresistibly slinky Stones groove to Boom Boom Back (Beck Hansen yelps mid-chorus), while Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten guests on the smouldering Stranger. Throughout, Cosials and Perrote joyfully excel. [Oct 2024, p.88]

Lyrics are vital, and here they often clunk where they should pierce, deadening some of her undeniable power. [Jun 2020, p.86]

What might be a bleak set of songs about fragile ecosystems and unsustainable lives is saved from desperation by the warmth of the instrumentation – strings, synths, piano – and the watchful humanity of the lyrics. [May 2024, p.84]

The saturnine wavs of As Above Perhaps So Below suggest the torpor induced by the titular barbiturate, while We Were Vaporised proffers further subterranean tectonics offset by cosmic keyboard drifts that might have been plucked, like much here, from an art-house sci-fi movie score. [Jun 2024, p.91]

When Robert Smith guests on the strident How Not to Drown it's a perfect retro storm. Yet the opening Asking For A Friend has a very 2021 clatter, while Violent Delights evokes a sugar-free Ellie Goulding. [Oct 2021, p.98]

Amid the aggro, Taylor's intense stack-heeled charisma dominates: whether raging or romancing, she's the queen of this glorious chunder from Down Under. [Jun 2019, p.88]

This is music that seems to inhale and exhale around Faithfull, making space for wonder to unfurl without crassly signposting it. [May 2021, p.86]

With Lullaby his tricky metamorphosis from Golden God to dignified elder statesman is now complete, and the last stages of that transition make for a rewarding, often touching listen. [Oct 2014, p.84]