10 songs that are the apotheosis of their spartan sound. [Jun 2019, p.95]

The third set sounds clean and efficient at the expense of real zest. [Jun 2019, p.96]

Diviner came out of post-band convalescence and a spell of recalibration, yet for all the intense, cocooning introspection in these songs, Thorpe is obviously more than ready to face the world alone. [Jun 2019, p.93]

A fine writer who is really finding her voice. [Jun 2019, p.94]

Amid the aggro, Taylor's intense stack-heeled charisma dominates: whether raging or romancing, she's the queen of this glorious chunder from Down Under. [Jun 2019, p.88]

Destroyer shifts up a couple of gears for a less cosmic,more hard rockin' thrust, complete with headlong NWOBHM riffs and even shredding. [Jun 2019, p.90]

The album feels confessional, courageous. ... Yes it can be bleak as hell but Flamagra's artistic artistic triumphs are sublimely uplifting. [Jul 2019, p.92]

Her third album is a small masterpiece of restrained quirks; a slowburner that rearranges retro signifiers in a genuinely creative way. [Jun 2019, p.91]

Creatively, Reward is on point. [Jun 2019, p.89]

Versions of Jon i Mitchell's Don't Interrupt The Sorrow and Bob Dylan's Only A Pawn In Their Game are surprisingly persuasive. Elsewhere, it's like being imprisoned in the teenage Moz bedroom/brain. [Jun 2019, p.89]

The restraint, especially from the horn section, is astonishing; the overall effect absorbing to the point of transcendence. [Apr 2019, p.93]

Mavis's voice is still strong and convincing. [Jun 2019, p.87]

The band interpret the album title as a play on Portuguese for "Shadow Or Doubt," as in the choice between comfort zone and uncertainty. It's a line they confidently tread throughout. [Jun 2019, p.93]

Original, but with traces of early Dizzee, Rodney P and The Streets in Slowthai's savvy grime-punk. [Jun 2019, p.96]

A sumptuous, sonic world built from dense, sampled snippets, repetitive phrases and percussive sound design. [Jun 2019, p.95]

Ultimately, it's a record filled with beauty that tries to do what therapy does: sort through a mess of emotions and reorganise them into something that makes more sense. [Jun 2019, p.84]

It's Bondy's most disturbing record, but equally his most memorable. [Jun 2019, p.88]

Stirring stuff, but a little goes a long way. [Jun 2019, p.96]

This is warm, analogue-smudged R&B that blossoms with repeated plays. [Jun 2019, p.95]

Continues to hit the sonic sweet spots. [Jun 2019, p.93]

The songs on this collection are warm and human and worth the wait. [May 2019, p.94]

Williams' storytelling gift is palpable, but pleasant to alight on though it is, Front Porch perhaps lacks that one outstanding merger of lyrical acuity/melodic potency, a la Dolly Parton's Jolene. [Jun 2019, p.89]

This is very much an album to shout "Hey!" at regular rhythmic intervals. [Jun 2019, p.95]

A baffling mix of forgettable riffs and clumsy lyricism. [Jun 2019, p.96]

[Francesco Turrisi's] accompaniments, often on old/unusual instruments, add a strange, delicate beauty to Giddens' solemn, powerful soprano. [Jun 2019, p.89]

There's a punkish, uncompromising bravery to tracks like Raging Earths--piledriving beats and a gathering storm of swelling synths--that's strangely compelling. [Jun 2019, p.95]

The fourth volume continues the quality but widens the focus to include Delta State, Abuja and the border with Benin. [Jun 2019, p.106]

Fantastic mix of rare jazz and soul, cut with contemporary electronic meditations from Sarah Davachi, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and more. [Jun 2019, p.102]