Rufus Wainwright-goes-to-grad-school lushness dominates, though, and despite Bird's Death Of Marat pose on the cover, My Finest Work is not quite revolutionary. [May 2019, p.93]

Ultimately setting up camp in the middle ground between King Of Limbs-era Radiohead and mid-80s Tears For fears. [May 2019, p.86]

Building on the fresh inventiveness of 2017's Uyai, this new album cheerfully chops up and reassembles genres in a way that is seriously funky. [May 2019, p.89]

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]

Yanya's music calls to mind gritty jazz/rock griot King Krule, Sampha's contemplative street soul and her key teenage influences: Pixies, Winehouse and The Libertines. Her spiky guitar playing is confidently pushed to the front of the mix here. [Apr 2019, p.86]

If 2017's Hard Love overreached, Eraserland is a successful recalibration. [Apr 2019, p.91]

Peaks: Tough Enough's flouncing post-punk; radiate's bright, Buzzcocks-meet-The Knack groove. [Apr 2019, p.96]

Only the title track's gently jazzy diversion (Pt 1) and surprise operatics (Pt 2) shatter the wellness-retreat politeness. [Apr 2019, p.96]

10-decent-but-not-exceptional songs, Sleeper ultimately sound a little anachronistic; just not made for these times. [Apr 2019, p.89]

On their best pastiches, the jokes land often enough, but you can't help yearning for something as perfectly-turned as Benny Hill's Ernie, or as ardently silly as John Shuttleworth's I Can't Go Back to Savoury Now. [Apr 2019, p.88]

A good 'un, finely balancing his roots with his modernism. [Mar 2019, p.92]

Immersive and thought-provoking record. [Apr 2019, p.87]

The constantly shape-shifting and explosive dynamics of this brutal yet accessible blaze of glory are borne from a collaboration that's instinctive, primal and alchemical, effortlessly outclassing the competition. [Apr 2019, p.88]

Chance-taking, richly rewarding. [Apr 2019, p.89]

These songs have a sharp, glittery edge, like a neat tequila slammer. [Apr 2019, p.92]

It hard not to be engaged by the restless, cerebral daftness--footnotes notwithstanding. [Apr 2019, p.95]

To Believe doesn't rush along the cutting edge, but after 12 years absent, it hits this particular spot in time and space: sombre, tense, watchful, looking for calm, but gathering storms. [Apr 2019, p.92]

The mangled, jangled garage-pop of Rushing The Acid Frat or Ocean Of revenge's dexterous fable-spinning remain at one with his cosmic professor MO, though, proof that Malkmus can vibrate beyond his usual frequency without losing himself or his listeners. [Apr 2019, p.89]

A bold redrawing of creative frontiers, Lux Prima is a gamble that pays off, handsomely. [Apr 2019, p.88]

This is one of Bowness's most vivid collections. The sound is rich and full of depth. [Apr 2019, p.86]

Predictably, there's a big hello-hurray for bold re-imaginings of The Jam's Private Hell and Boy About Town, but it's the big-orch performance of his solo jazz-psych-folk highlights that transport and intrigue. [Apr 2019, p.86]

As expected, it's perfectly executed. [Apr 2019, p.89]

There's no leap forwards here but Still On My mind is the sound of a woman playing to her strengths and the good ship Dido remains reassuringly unsinkable. [Apr 2019, p.92]

Basic themes remain unchanged. [Apr 2019, p.89]

An endearingly dog-eared weirdness to their idiosyncratic country rock, a charm to their off-kilter harmonies and a mystery within Curt's songwriting that ensures Dusty Notes is craftmanlike, rather than workmanlike. [Apr 2019, p.91]

If Palmer sometimes gets it wrong, when she gets its it right, nearly all is forgiven. [Apr 2019, p.89]

Though McLennan's poetry, hurt and melodic gift is lost, his partner's crafted vignettes are the closest we have to the timeless albums they make together. Inferno stands among them, a few stops down the line, and for Forster, like the rest of us, life turns another page. [Apr 2019, p.84]

Part 1 veers from the abrasive, Stooges-style rock that characterised much of 2015's What Went Down. [Apr 2019, p.86]