Its four long, richly-textured instrumentals thrum with existential reverence. [Aug 2022, p.89]

Occasionally, the joke is pushed too far (the feigned English accents and campy synth-pop of Muscles). Mostly, however, McBean's native gift for riff and songcraft transcend any conceptual archness. [Aug 2022, p.92]

It's when Spektor is less showy and more direct that her songs are most affecting. [Aug 2022, p.86]

Up And Away is warmer and grittier than its '80s-polished predecessors, infused with the '50s/'60s trad folk and hybrid pop records her grandparents and parents spun for her. [Jul 2022, p.90]

The debut - one of several solo releases by CSNY post-Deja Vu - is the stronger of the two, heartfelt and unpretentious. Nash's voice has barely changed and the band arrangements are mostly subtle and complementary. [Jul 2022, p.86]

There might only be five songs here, but each one has a similar transformative effect. [Jul 2022, p.88]

Her insinuation of millennial angst-pop into pre-millennial alt-rock is so deft and affecting that Sometimes, Forever rewards the investment. Soccer Mommy feels like the real deal, [Jul 2022, p.92]

In Amber goes the whole hog. ... Frequently beautiful and occasionally offers succour. [Jul 2022, p.90]

Strange's earnestness is artful, and Farm To Table an uplifting triumph. [Jul 2022, p.88]

This trick of balancing heavy and light serves Mercury well. [Jul 2022, p.88]

It's a beguiling mix for the most part, even if they have overly sacrificed melody on the altar of rhythm. [Jul 2022, p.93]

These opaque, often uneasy sounding songs conjure nature's unpredictability and vulnerability as well as its beauty. [Jul 2022, p.89]

O'Brien prowls around angular guitar and drums. Imagine a Kim Gordon-fronted PiL. [Jul 2022, p.97]

Whip-smart and wonderful. [Jul 2022, p.89]

This is pure, unpolished ur-boogie, a foundation course in rock'n'roll. [Jul 2022, p.95]

Capture Jackson at his very best. ... These eight songs are both questing and healing. [Jul 2022, p.89]

Luminous and alive, Dear Scott is just what Mick does: Head music, straight from the heart. [Jun 2022, p.82]

These 11 songs - several expansive - are often sophisticated indie pop with a lot going on. musically and lyrically. [Jul 2022, p.95]

A potent artistic tour de force, White Jesus Black Problems' message is ultimately a simple but life-affirming one: love can conquer all. [Jul 2022, p.94]

With his trademark gothic drawl, Patterson Hood limns close highway calls with perspicacity, then mourns the compatriots he's lost to foibles and vices alike. Perennially underrated Mike Cooley, meanwhile, hands in some of his sharpest-ever writing. [Jul 2022, p.86]

The follow-up to 2020's When We Stay Alive continues that LP's fragile introspection. [Jul 2022, p.97]

The trio's debut album is rich in textural sophistication, carving hooks from fidgety harmonics and swooning whammy-bar abuse. [Jul 2022, p.86]

Big Time doesn't feel like a definitive transformation - it's still tender and unfurled in places - but it does have a new clarity, a sense of masks peeling away, veils dropped. [Jul 2022, p.84]

There's real creative confidence on display here. [Jul 2022, p.92]

They return forever changed to confidently shape a form of country music that is entirely of their own character. [Jul 2022, p.87]

11 searching, beautifully rendered songs which rhythm section Jay Bellerose and Jennifer Condos finesse with artful subtlety. [Jul 2022, p.91]

A few numbers tread too similar a beat; but then there's the gumshoe monologue of Brexit At Tiffany's and The Sergio Leone mash-up of Saint Michael - which is windswept, stately and might, just might be hopeful. [Jun 2022, p.91]

Adept at expressing keenly observed details in a Beat vernacular, he makes excellent use of a 14-piece string section and more drum machines than are typical for him. [Jul 2022, p.89]