Elegant is the way the record confines Diane’s sadness to the past. It doesn’t wallow, it reassesses.

From the get-go, his highly-anticipated debut album delivers exactly what it promises with its stylish, nostalgic artwork: a distinct world filled with hazy strings, warped synths and vocals that range from a flawless ’70s-style falsetto to laid-back speech. It’s retro-inspired through a modern lens.

Throughout the record, she bravely calls out incredibly important issues such as toxic masculinity and rape culture, but her music never loses its playfulness. This is an enthralling and deeply relevant debut.

A remarkable album, one that only grows more awesome with each listen.

It demands that you listen to it in this moment, not that you give it an easy ride because this is the man who made ‘Heroes’; and its songs more than live up to the demand.

Of the most recent phases of Patti Smith's musical output (always surprising since 1996's Kurt Cobain tribute 'Gone Again'), Banga is by far the most successful.

Like virtually everything else on ‘10,000 gecs’, there’s nothing about the track [ ‘One Million Dollars’] that should work, and yet it not only commands your attention throughout, but demands replay after replay. ... ‘10,000 gecs’ is insanely fun and impressively ambitious.

The two finest soloists from Montreal label Constellation combine here for something far greater than the sum of its parts.

This isn't just her finest album, but one of early 2012's best.

There may be elements of these greats in her vocals, but as ‘Not Your Muse’ proves, Celeste is on her way to becoming a star in her own right.

If this is an awakening, consider our attention well and truly captive; clever, confident, and utterly comforting.

Opening up the definition of rap-rock, TheOGM and Eaddy prove that you can hold yourself to the same intricate lyrical standards of rap, while sounding closer to the rockstars they grew up falling in love with.

‘Volcano’ certainly isn’t overstuffed with ideas. Often, the uniformity in this approach – muddy vocal line that could be a chopped-up classic, and a minimal but effective bassline – mean that several of the songs meld together, struggling to stand out. .... But when they get it right, it’s hard to deny how hard it hits.

Maybe this album is a little rough around the edges, and doesn’t quite commit enough to experimentation, but overall it’s an assured debut that suggests a very bright future. If King Princess leans more heavily into gay ballroom culture with the next album, ditching the acoustic guitar for music that’s more urgent and funky, then we might just have another pop great on our hands.

There’s so much packed into these 15 lush, context-evading songs, though, that map references are pretty futile.

If there’s a criticism of Broken Politics, it perhaps that the record doesn’t broadcast this voice often enough.

Something about them is essentially alien--yet, very probably, that is the source of their strange, uncanny power.

It’s well executed, quite odd, highly original and full of promise--exactly what you want from a debut album.

'Under Construction' is stuck all over with shocks and surprises, more than enough to keep the rogue-scientist glitchmasters who mutated 'Get Ur Freak On' in mischief for months.

Porridge Radio are sharpening their craft, but they’re not pretending anything’s any easier, and that’s what makes them such a uniquely compelling band.

After this increasing headway, Ivy Tripp is slicker than its predecessors, but Crutchfield’s emotional rawness hasn’t been glossed over.

True Meanings tends to blend into a lilting mush over the course of 14 tracks that rarely stray from the beige end of the sonic palette.

Webster’s evolution from her self-titled record is a delight to witness. The songs are more direct and lyrically she’s become a remarkable observer of the little things that make us tick.

'Aerial' has more than its share of static, but the highs are more than worth the lows. [12 Nov 2005, p.45]

We should all count ourselves lucky that that role fell to a man willing to be this open and viscerally honest, and to translate it into music that salves the soul.

'Chosen Lords' is proof of Aphex Twin's uncommonly rude health, artistically-speaking. [15 Apr 2006, p.33]

After is personified by her ragged, powerful voice, under which she picks, thrashes and strums riffs that mostly sound just as full of character.

AJ Tracey’s debut is perhaps the best of the current crop; twisted, vibrant and ever-shifting, but linked with that confident voice.