The Velvet Trail finds him firmly on home turf: sparkling glam-noir and sumptuous balladeering. [Apr 2015, p.85]

This 20th album is his most overt and conscious attempt to wrestle with specific demons that [diagnosis of being in the autism spectrum] raises up. [Nov 2013, p.113]

No Blues is their best album yet. [Dec 2013, p.109]

Days Are Gone is a pretty impregnable collection of songs, their alloy of golden Fleetwood Mac melodies and liquid R&B polished to a reflective shine. [Oct 2013, p.103]

There's a calculation to much of what's on offer here that undercuts all the other advancements. [#361, p.116]

His songs draw on his folk-rock roots, only to detour down mysterious and memerising byways. [Jan 2017, p.111]

Often ludicrous, Pure Luxury is a brilliant escape. [Aug 2020, p.108]

Truelove's Gutter is a beautiful album. [Oct 2009, p.113]

It may sound less dense, but The Hungry Saw is as dark, mysterious and seductive as ever. [May 2008, p.141]

There are moments when it becomes a bit Baltic Eurovision, but Okovi is as tender as it is tough. [Oct 2017, p.111]

It's both a delight and a retro-soul how-to. [Jul 2015, p.112]

Everything's in flux, subject to change, but Xen is still a record of mood-altering substance. [Jan 2015, p.120]

Footwork newcomers might want to test their stamina with one of Planet Mu's excellent Bangs & works compilations first. [Jun 2012, p.114]

There's nothing here that hasn't been heard before from countless others, but it's put together with impeccable taste and--importantly--a skilled ear for a tune. [May 2010, p.118]

The post-punk provocateurs' 13th album finds them straddling post-millennial metal and ritualistic pounding, Jaz Coleman still still roaring like he's the only sane person in a world of fools. [Nov. 2010, p. 105]

Reconstructed stands as a compelling snapshot of an artist who can't be considered a real game-changer. [Oct 2012, p.118]

In its street-level politics, lucid delivery and hypnotic hooks, Novelist Guy is confirmation that this wave has a lot further to roll yet. [Jun 2018, p.107]

What remains unbroken doesn't need fixing. [Oct 2018, p.119]

Crucuially, though, he's lost none of his songwriting skill, with each song here perfectly capturing a mood of reflective melancholy. [May 2009, p.110]

One Life Stand is the classic pop album they've always threatened to make. [Mar 2010, p.96]

Without resorting to difficult time signatures or moaning about the desperate pain of it all, [Luke] Steele has found a wonky path away from rock's mor restrictive conventions while still engaging positively with the world. [Aug 2003, p.113]

His fifth album is a triumph where his previous efforts have promised but fallen just short. [Oct 2007, p.105]

Tindersticks once again turn the spaces and losses into songs of substance. [Jan 2020, p.114]

Wincing The Night Away is super-smart pop music the way they (Brits, mainly) used to make it 20 years ago. [Feb 2007, p.100]

Their fourth album continues their stimulus for head and viscera. [Jul 2014, p.107]

Anyone who wants a bold new direction from Jeff Tweedy may find Sukierae disappointing. [Oct 2014, p.120]

It isn't any different to where she's been before, it's simply that quality levels remain uniformly high. [Aug 2008, p.139]

Sad to say, The List is an overly polite, lifeless collection of tried and trusted country standards apparently recommended as required listening by her father back in 1973. [Dec 2009, p. 126]