Soroor is the star of this set. ... Her pre-relocation stuff--even her Afghan Star audition is online--is always interesting, but this is a whole new level. [Oct 2019, p.86]

It's a good album, but the standout track is just him alone on Beograd, a swirling big-room French house track, where he is beautifully lost in the beats. [Dec 2019, p.93]

Yet even at its most downbeat and damaged, this music gleams with a steely determination to be heard. [May 2020, p.87]

The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sonics are matched by an unrelenting emotional honesty. [Jul 2020, p.85]

A future late-night classic. [Jul 2020, p.80]

While a palpable sense of mournfulness lingers throughout Mia Gargaret, there's a degree of catharsis attached to it too. [Aug 2020, p.89]

Joyful and full of subtle vigour, it's the perfect headphone-heard walking companion when you don't want lyrics crowding your thoughts. [Jul 2020, p.85]

Music this soulful should need no introduction. [Feb 2021, p.88]

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

An edifying spin baited for hardcore fans with an unreleased acoustic Strummer strum through Junco Partner and two live Mescaleros Clash covers. [May 2021, p.95]

The opener, Demba Kunda, suggests a straight-forward instrumental set; but French singer Camille's hymn around the sound of the word "kora" is transcendent; Piers Faccini's vocals take you one step higher; and there's a slightly hoarse-sounding Salif Keita thrown in as a bonus. [May 2021, p.85]

The 12-tracker doesn't feel as "big" as 2020's funky On Sunset, nor as even as the woody True Meanings, but the array of styles means no one will walk away untouched. [Jun 2021, p.88]

All coalesces, near-inexplicably, as yet another excellent album. [Aug 2021, p.80]

Not quite up to par with the last three indie label releases, but he set the bar high. [Oct 2021, p.93]

This is a record of delicately sculped nuages, all wispily sung by guitarist/keyboard-player Wata. [Mar 2022, p.80]

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

The sisters soar even higher here. [Feb 2022, p.91]

It just sounds so good. Warm and natural. And Earle's voice has rarely sounded better. [Aug 2022, p.91]

Its largely brooding, contemplative mood raising ghosts and evoking bruised skies. [Mar 2023, p.92]

It's a seduction in halves. [May 2023, p.93]

An excursion into invention, forsaking preparation for nuggets of inspiration and a degree of rootless wander. [May 2023, p.89]

Overall, one mighty, magnificent trip. [Nov 2023, p.84]

Fabulously serious work. [May 2024, p.91]

The huge exhilaration of Hawk's previous two albums has largely been replaced by more troubled moods - and more stylistic variety - but bravura lyrics remain. [Sep 2024, p.86]

There are still instances of thrilling freneticism; a Scandinavian Deerhoof. But this LP is often more cleanly directional – less angular and full of unexpected calm, as with the sweet vocal/ guitar chimes on Bell. [Sep 2024, p.89]

Shows he hasn’t lost the knack for marrying accessible melodies with vivid storytelling, wry humour and subversive lyrics. [Nov 2024, p.85]

Five solo LPs in, The Mighty Several vouches for his continued worth, fostering unity and empathy in divided times. [Nov 2024, p.88]

There’s some very fine rock songs (Sally Was A Cop revisits the “Oh-oh-oh” singalong on Willie Mays Is Up At Bat from Temple Beautiful) and excellent ballads, from Americana closer It’s A Good Day To Be Alive to truly beautiful Red Sky Night. [Nov 2024, p.89]