Their finest record since 2002's Light & Magic, Ladytron achieve near perfection here. [Apr 2019, p.114]

There's an element of "always the same but always... the same" here--but when Pollard hits his cryptically emotive cruising altitude on Carapace or The Rally Boys the guitars accelerate around their pilot, his chose songwriting vehicle always flies. [Apr 2019, p.113]

There is a pleasing wide scope to his source material. [Mar 2019, p.116]

At times they resemble a pumped-up Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but it's not all "you want some?" antagonism. [Mar 2019, p.120]

AJ Tracey not only lives up to his hype, he transcends it. [Mar 2019, p.114]

There are moments in early listens of the album when the attention begins to meander, only to be drawn back in by a lyrical quirk, or a sudden musical volte face, so that by the sixth roll about the turntable this seems a wholly differently textured record to when you began. [Mar 2019, p.121]

The shift between styles can jar, but it's a move that give Broods' inoffensive formula a welcome burst of energy. [Mar 2019, p.112]

They carefully remodel Gentry's Southern storytelling. [Mar 2019, p.116]

Ultimately, though, White Lies are running to stand still. [Mar 2019, p.120]

It helps that the guitarist composes vocal-free songs that, on his fourth album, are reassuringly acoustic, a brew of melancholy and romance. [Mar 2019, p.120]

A band recharged and re-energised. [Mar 2019, p.120]

A charming lightness, the airy melodies and dreamy acoustic guitars gently folding into each other. If that makes these tracks sound like they're so breezy they could float away, singer Hollie Fullbrook's way with an arresting hook keeps them grounded. [Mar 2019, p.120]

While the guest MCs provide the better-known names (Ghetts, Kojey Radical), it is the singers who make this such a special album. [Mar 2019, p.120]

An album very much worthy of The Specials' name. [Mar 2019, p.118]

The second LP of their decade-long comeback is defined by the warm fuzz of Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge's guitars--like a dusty desert sirocco, creating a benign concussed daze. [Mar 2019, p.118]

It's when they go to the dark side that things pick up. [Mar 2019, p.118]

Tracks such as The Way It Goes or Suck It Like A Whistle are dynamic, dramatic rap-funk, which find the ambition to measure up to her obvious talent. [Mar 2019, p.118]

Its highlights pick up where the EP left off, the likes of Bad Friend and 4AM fizzing with energy and seemingly perpetually on the brink of collapsing into thrilling chaos. They're less sure-footed when they try to broaden their palette, however. [Mar 2019, p.118]

It's an impressive art-rock construction, just not one that easily fits into every space. [Mar 2019, p.118]

Quiet Signs is an utterly captivating record from its first second to its last. [Mar 2019, p.116]

Presley makes more connections than he ever drops. [Mar 2019, p.116]

Even when the centre spins out, Lennox's naive melodies make his indulgence sound strangely inviting. [Mar 2019, p.116]

A collection of jangly guitar pop that struggles to locate a niche within their favoured genre. [Mar 2019, p.116]

Dreamy and heartaching, its appearance is actually deceptive. ... A gorgeous record. [Mar 2019, p.115]

This enjoyably jumbled set could be their London Calling. [Mar 2019, p.115]

A new fraught kind of soul music. [Mar 2019, p.115]

It sounds like a bunch of stoned musicians listening back to half-finished tracks, believing them to be mind-blowingly revolutionary. [Mar 2019, p.115]

He may not have stepped totally outside his discomfort zone, but Blake here reveals himself as an artist at the peak of his powers. [Mar 2019, p.113]