A meditative, inward-looking affair, Freeze, Melt is best heard after a big night in. [Sep 2020, p.91]

There's nothing here to shock or surprise, but that's a major part of the attraction and Erasure remain a guiltless pleasure. [Sep 2020, p.91]

These are precarious songs, Oberst's voice as fragile as an egg, yet when it comes to songwriting, Bright Eyes remain a safe pair of hands. [Oct 2020, p.84]

Brandon Flowers' commercial appeal holds steady on Imploding The Mirage under producers 13 and 14 Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, who lather fidgety single Caution and When The Dreams Run Dry in fine '80s studio-wash. [Oct 2020, p.84]

For the most part Swift doesn't stray far from The Great Dylan Songbook. [Oct 2020, p.86]

Act as an instrumental coda to 2018's superb There's A Riot Going On. [Oct 2020, p.94]

Richly textured, panoramic celebration of the natural world. [Oct 2020, p.87]

Rarely less than poignant, with the composer's gift for aching earworm melody much in evidence. [Oct 2020, p.93]

Easy chemistry. ... Glasper and Washington fans may rue their idols merely playing in the back. [Oct 2020, p.94]

While her own solos have a fluent grandeur, Garcia remains as generous a leader as she was a collaborator. [Sep 2020, p.89]

Songs For The General Public astonishes and delights. [Sep 2020, p.83]

Protest songs can be dour, but Bradfield dresses lyrics adapted from the poems of Patrick Jones in his most ornately uplifting arrangements. [Sep 2020, p.85]

Writing her way into a new persona, our heroine emerges as a badass punk with attitude and cutely clever lyrics. [Sep 2020, p.87]

Negrito transcends his influences to create a new kind of hip, gritty, thought-provoking urban musical currency. [Sep 2020, p.83]

Here is The Stooges Mk I's answer to the James Williamson-era Metallica KO - ferociously exciting on the brink of collapse. [Sep 2020, p.99]

Strong mastery of mood and era, but the overcast ennui palls before the album's close. [Aug 2020, p.94]

Intimate, absorbing. [Sep 2020, p.94]

This is jazz in its loosest, least bridled sense, blurred to shimmering, impressionistic effect. [Aug 2020, p.91]

Short, spellbinding, almost painfully beautiful album. [Sep 2020, p.96]

It's certainly brave. Whoosh! is superior when guitarist Steve Morse and keyboard player Don Airey slip their leashes. [Sep 2020, p.85]

Refining rather than redefining. [Jun 2020, p.91]

Vincent's voice is so unusual and beguiling, it almost detracts from the lyrics, but they eventually punch through. ... Vincent and Another Sky enthrall. [Sep 2020, p.88]

Sangare's voice is pushed to the fore. ... It's deeper and throatier now, and wise enough not to overpower the strings--but you can still hear the youthful street singer having fun on Kamelemba and Mogoya. [Aug 2020, p.84]

Often you wonder exactly what you're hearing; you just know you haven't heard it before. [Aug 2020, p.87]

Creating a feel that blissfully reminiscent of Bruce Langhorne's instrumental score for Peter Fonda's 1971 western, The Hired Hand. [Aug 2020, p.89]

Decidedly bolder than 2016's Ellipsis, it is an album that revels in subverting expectations. [Jun 2020, p.88]

While Powell's bruised vocals evoke early Cat Power, she does remarkable things with that sound. [Sep 2020, p.87]

There's something likable and everyman about his voice, which sits easily with the variety of vintage country styles on these 14 new songs. [Sep 2020, p.87]