A confident and enjoyable debut. [May 2019, p.111]

A return to form that shares DNA with Madonna's Ray Of Light, it combines Dido's introspection with meditative electronica. [May 2019, p.111]

The British collective's first album in 12 years reopens their conduit for nocturnal electronic, modern classical and tempestuous jazz, all in an engaging wash. Credit their bold selection of vocalists. [May 2019, p.108]

Lewis has never sounded on stronger form than she does here. [May 2019, p.109]

The weaponised theatricality never overshadows a set of songs that are as entertaining as they are grandly ambitious. [Apr 2019, p.116]

Each song is like a little journal entry, lent emotional heft by Ashworth's use of repetition. [Apr 2019, p.114]

Everything Not saved is an exercise in artistic liberation. More importantly, perhaps, since it's chock full of tunes, it all comes without them losing the creative ground they've gained, [Apr 2019, p.108]

The results are anything but fluid, instead capturing the lawless, conflicting thrills of cultural anarchy. [Apr 2019, p.110]

The presence of tamp Impala's Kevin Parker in the producer's chair ensures that the sonic differences with his own band's sun-dried sci-fidelia are Rizla thin. However, frontman Nick Allbrook's rapier-sharp lyrics ensure that they still have their own livewire personality. [Apr 2019, p.114]

Compliments Please may be spirited, but it isn't the most cutting-edge take on poptimism. [Apr 2019, p.116]

Overall, a promising, if risk-free start. [Apr 2019, p.116]

It's when Hozier tries to do throwaway, good-time tracks that the record falters slightly. [Apr 2019, p.119]

They don't make quite such a startling leap forward on this third effort [as on 2016's Love Yes], but tweak it by reworking their sound with electronic experiments. [Apr 2019, p.116]

Her directness about the experience of falling in and out of love with women is both refreshing and literal. [Apr 2019, p.113]

While lately the LA quartet's output has largely been preoccupied with reclaiming their crunchy alt-rock sound, The Black Album often exorcises it with synth and piano. It works superbly. [Apr 2019, p.118]

A giant leap from their 2016 debut. Critical is the discovery of drummer Aaron Frazer's falsetto voice, leading six of the 12 songs, he's doubled the band's stylistic and emotional range. [Apr 2019, p.113]

Thrilling, thoughtful and unrestrained by existing rap templates, Grey Area confirms Little Simz as an artist who is increasingly difficult to dismiss. [Apr 2019, p.115]

If Strange Creatures show a grander musical approach, then lyrically they're still fascinated by the bleak detail of everyday life, even if lads-night-out-gone-wrong vignette Bonfire Of the City Boys and sax-peppered deadpan horror story Prom Night flip the mundane into something more twisted. [Apr 2019, p.110]

Trux life feels more brilliantly warped than ever. [Apr 2019, p.114]

The Texan singer and guitarist's fifth album feels like a one-man exploration of African-American music. .. The blues is in safe hands. [Apr 2019, p.110]

If it's occasionally all a bit much, it's also unlike anything else you'll hear this year. [May 2018, p.111]

"The doctor said I've passed my peak/All my eggs are dying/In my 20s I'm antique," she groans on Holiday resort. her Verve and wit protest otherwise. [Apr 2019, p.113]

Simultaneously earthy and ethereal, pieced together in the loft of his house in the village of Cellardyke and left to fly free. [Apr 2019, p.118]

A slice of West Country meets Southern soul glory to rival anything Auerbach's ever been associated with. [Apr 2019, p.118]

Despite the weight that hangs on its shoulders, Crushing doesn't feel defeated, rather it's the sound of a fearless songwriter putting the past to bed and regrouping stronger than ever. [Apr 2019, p.112]

Khan's own incomparable pipes as blast-proof as ever, her first studio album since 2007 stands comparison with its stellar single. [Apr 2019, p.113]

They're mysterious but persuasive sonic realities. [Apr 2019, p.118]

These songs aren't in line with much contemporary R&B, but reach for something more retro, and on tracks such as Teach You, a kind of Broadway grandeur. The strange result is that they in fact sound refreshingly modern. [Apr 2019, p.113]