A richly downcast experience, his deft arrangements recalling the powerful, orchestrated cloudbursts of Curtis Mayfield's solo debut. [Feb 2022, p.82]

[It's Alright Between Us as It Is] finds the Stavanger native matching more vocals to his grandiose productions. [Nov 2017, p.99]

Absorbing follow-up. [Feb 2026, p.90]

[The Long-Awaited Album exudes] humour on such tracks as Caroline and Strangest Christmas Yet. Martin also offers a touch of romance with All Night Long and delivers a chunk of heads-down speedgrass with instrumental Office supplies. [Dec 2017, p.87]

While dark moments abound, Bad Wiring is also thick with the evergreen anti-folkie's charm. [Jan 2020, p.92]

These are gallingly sad, often crudely simple folk songs, interlaced with menace, though her assertions of agency are just as bracing as the dark parts. [Jan 2018, p.105]

As closing track Assagasswar fades out, we are left with a synthetic breeze, the sound of the 21st century Sahara. [Feb 2026, p.89]

Like Hope Sandoval, Savior's smoky timbre is cucumber-cool rather than over-emotive. [Feb 2020, p.86]

Burke's prodigious talent and larger-than-life presence ensures the big name cameos don't steal his thunder. [Nov 2006, p.102]

A delightful demonstration that sticking to your guns can be well worth it. [Mar 2017, p.95]

This album as a whole is a definitive statement by a peerless ensemble. [Nov 2023, p.90]

All but unchanged aesthetically at 64, this alt-rock icon's rockin' on. [Apr 2025, p.78]

Wood's most accessible set to date is also her most ambitious, for its Byzantine approach to its concept, but also for her honesty and openness. [Nov 2023, p.88]

We get bouquets as well as barbed-wire. [Jul 2025, p.84]

Opener Wall Of Glass resounds with stirring audience participation while a robust rhythm section and lively Hammond organist help cut through the din. [Aug 2020, p.86]

The exuberance and delight in the newness and rightness of it all is captivating. [Jul 2009, p.107]

Great tunes delivered in ways you'd never dreamed of. [Oct 2001, p.122]

Wings Over America records the fact that they were a far sturdier, more streamlined and thrilling proposition than they were ever given credit for. [Jun 2013, p.96]

Floating Coffin is manna for the faithful, but also an excellent point for newbies to get onboard. [Jul 2013, p.87]

A huge step forwards: certainly professionally but surely personally too. [Jan 2026, p.84]

It's a pleasant place to hang out, though it occasionally feels like you're listening to a piece of fake history, a one-for-ourselves indulgence by a big band whose major work you've not heard. [Nov 2001]

Power Up is one mighty curtain call, and listening to it feels a bit like playtime. [Jan 2021, p.80]

A title that came to John Darnielle in a dream vividly interpreted as the score for a musical. [Feb 2026, p.90]

The corners of these songs might not snag quite as dangerously as before, but there's no blunting of the fascination Le Bon's songwriting so expertly exerts. [Mar 2022, p.80]

A meditative record that flutters elegantly and throbs with delicious menace. [Nov 2019, p.95]

Van's back, lending vocals to Ain't That A trip, a joyous R&B number that provides one of many highpoints on Hunter's eleventh album. [Jan 2026, p.86]

Craven Faults harness electronic power to recount compelling stories. [Mar 2026, p.88]

Here If You Listen is never less than gorgeously meditative, and in its cloudy, impressionistic swell bobs flotsam of unusual beauty. [Dec 2018, p.88]