There are some wrong turns, but there's ample fierce flair here to suggest Modern Woman could join the likes of English Teacher at the top of the 2020s class. [May 2026, p.103]

A savvy set oozing with all the assuredness and class one might suspect from a bunch of wisened sixty-somwting. [May 2026, p.102]

Look For Your Mind! is another winner for the d'Addarios, packed tight with stunning musicianship, sparkling songcraft and ingenious arrangements. [May 2026, p.98]

The ball keeps rolling. A rare hushed ditty, That Was My Brain On elves, is surreal and witty. The other five have muddy, chunky basslines and spearing guitars. [May 2026, p.102]

Throughout, a balance of reflection and celebration is finely struck: while Feist-sung elegy What Happens Now is a tender beauty, Paying For Your Love blasts off like an indie E Street Band in full flow. [May 2026, p.101]

Self-produced, the accompaniment is lush, woody, spatial, and rich in unexpected details. [Jun 2025, p. 101]

Angel In Plainclothes is an intensely quiet - and quietly intense - listening experience that infuses itself into your veins. [May 2026, p.101]

It’s their fuzz-guitar take on Dr Feelgood’s She Does It Right that holds the, ahem, key to the majority of selections. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Casey spend a lot of the record mining the catalogues on non-household names from the world of blues. [May 2026, p.100]

This package gathers all the hit albums in both mono and stereo mixes, a brace of quirkier film soundtracks, plus a couple of solid but comparatively underwhelming post-Sebastian releases, all with a generous helping of bonus cuts. [Apr 2026, p.98]

The album has a twin-guitar roar urging forward fast, furious and catchy numbers - (How How How) How Do You Wanna Be Loved - but there's also a thoughtful side, a deft delicacy on tracks such as Ramona. [Apr 2026, p.98]

A fearless oasis of natural calm for a world that desperately need it. [May 2026, p.103]

Sharpening her songs' focus and melodies with spartan precision. [May 2026, p.101]

Weller's maturing voice, grainy, textured, and perfect for singing Stax. Another high is provided by Have You made Up Your Mind. [May 2026, p.96]

There are fever-dream phases of Queen II which are as thrilling as anything made that dazzling decade. .... Its reissue is significant. [May 2026, p.97]

If all Kneecap offered was the spectacle of someone stirring shit up, like the Pistols, PE and early Manics in previous generations, they would still be worth having around. But Fenian offers far more. Their day has come. [May 2026, p.100]

13 glides fluently from the Russ Ballard-ish Chew Nails to the funky Crossfyre, delicious dub-pop of standout Keep Calling Me (Baby) and Beck-ish squelch funk of That's Rap. [May 2026, p.103]

Beautiful. [May 2026, p.103]

A fourth album full of vibrant, varied takes on pop interspersed with some more downbeat, sensitive ruminations. [May 2026, p.103]

Remarkable album. [May 2026, p.101]

This Richmond, Virginia quintet bring as much energy and focus to the music as they ever did. [May 2026, p.92]

There's plenty of fun but there's also melancholy too. [May 2026, p.103]

Never superfluous, always essential. [Apr 2026, p.109]

Birding takes wing with mellifluous delicacy and sturdy dynamism, held in fine balance. [Apr 2026, p.105]

Indigo Park is effortlessly one of the most intriguing, accomplished, inventive and rewarding records of Hornsby’s long career, rich in the mellow vibes of his most radio-friendly past recordings, but at the same time resolutely, restlessly pushing envelopes, and its perpetually inspired maker. [Apr 2026, p.102]

"We're blossoming," she sings of a new romance, but she could easily be talking about herself and her artistic trajectory, having pulled off a daring makeover with such style. [Apr 2026, p.104]

You may rejoice, you may be bemused, or you may soil your drawers and run for the nearest exit. It's quite an experience, however you find it. [Apr 2026, p.109]

If 2021's Vertigo Days was impressive but remote, News... is more approachable and tactile in its tunes and textures, reflecting a decision to record live in the studio. [Apr 2026, p.108]

An immediate contender of one of the best psych albums of 2026. [Apr 2026, p.101]

A dense, lush and melodic blend of krautrock, psych pop, art-rock, dubby soundscaping and other styles that will forever be cooler than Keanu Reeves' icetray. [Apr 2026, p.107]

Mixing habitual anxieties and a kind of caught-in-the-moment clarity with intuitive fluency, Creature Of Habit is the Sound of an in-character transition smartly captured, bottled with instinctive assurance. [Mar 2026, p.102]

There are moments of relative sonic reserve here (the understated The Ceiling Underground; the lithe indie-pop of Inhospitable/Hospital; the bending shoegaze riff of Chestwound To The Chest), but – as with the tumultuous finale of TV People Still Throwing TVs At People – it’s an album which is largely turned up to 11, emotionally and sonically. [Mar 2026, p.104]

These 11 tracks attack from a more humanistic point of view, rather than a didactic one, especially on The Information, an emphatic antidote to this awful AI-addled age, the highly-charged Organoid and the gorgeously dreamy Can't Lose. [Apr 2026, p.106]

One of the most powerfully intense live acts on the circuit, Prostitute have miraculously transferred that intensity to this truly extraordinary record. [Apr 2026, p.108]

High-octane strutters You Call This A Good Time and Profane Prophecy reconnect with the classic Crowes of their earliest albums, while the bluesy back-porch strum of Pharmacy Chronicles and the laconic testifying of Eros Blues remind us that Chris has one of the best white soul voices in the business. [Apr 2026, p.105]

Leaves us keen to hear what she does next. [Apr 2026, p.106]

Powerful, and relentless in its attack. [Feb 2026, p.103]

What stands out most from this time is the sense of possibility and spirit of adventure. [Feb 2026, p.96]

Between bookending tracks Why Is The Lion?/Bride Of The Lion, reflections on modern fars both, (Everybody's Got A) Friend Named Joe and Vietnam Sunshine meditate gracefully and playfully on friendship and commitment. Spare settings offer breathing room, with strings, sax, flute and more colouring in the songs' fringes. [Mar 2026, p.103]

It succeeds by drawing in the listener and urging them to do some interpretative work. [Mar 2026, p.103]

Trixie’s bears many of the hallmarks the group would, a few years later, become celebrated for. Several hooks and melodies offer up the kind of earworms that helped establish Squeeze as one of the UK’s most dependable and radio-friendly singles bands, and there is already an astonishing maturity to Difford’s lyrics, often taking the form of poignant character studies. [Feb 2026, p.98]

Praying at the church of Eighties pop and boingy synths - from Madonna to Tears For Fears - they add just enough heavy-ish rock detail to prevent it getting sickly-sweet, and the beaming bravado wins you over. [Feb 2026, p.101]

The musical palette has broadened, the lyrics sharpened. [Mar 2026, p.104]

The Mirror radiates a collaborative spirit if curiosity, seeking - and finding - wonder and mystery in the everyday. [Mar 2025, p.103]

These shoegaze lovers from Philadelphia pick up where they left off with their first record in five years. Nothing excel at dynamics. [Mar 2026, p.105]

The intensity with which she details her local ecosystem is something to behold. .... On this evidence, the cult of Mitski isn't about to die down anytime soon. [Feb 2026, p.102]

The result is a record of many radiant treasures, inviting and rewarding maximum immersion. [Mar 2026, p.105]

Arguably his most intimate and revealing album yet. [Mar 2026, p.102]

The Mountain is a rich, rewarding take on living with and after loss, brimming with feeling, character and vibrant pop purpose. [Feb 2026, p.100]

These are more than covers, more bold reworkings. [Mar 2026, p.102]

Allow Embraced For A Second As We Die to wash over you and it's superior AOR. .... Given time though, Bergman's melodies and phrasing come to fore, revealing the strength of her writing. [Mar 2026, p.102]

Great stuff. [Mar 2026, p.105]

Epic stuff. [Mar 2026, p.105]

At times it is bracing. .... But the piano ballads are often delightful. [Mar 2026, p.103]

Hen Ogledd make music on their fifth album which feels rooted in something more timeless than simple pop. [Feb 2026, p.101]

Filled to the brim with explicit language and sexual overtones and charged with throbbing beats, it would be right at home in any queer club in Amsterdam. [Mar 2026, p.105]

Rather than simply regurgitating their heroes, the classic songwriting at the heart of the tension ensures it's an instantly welcoming experience. [Feb 2026, p.101]

Matt's gobby vocals recall Popscene-era Blur, with Issey's guitars driving the Britpop-y enthusiasm of Geraldine, Newsflash's staccato New Wave and Throwing in a chewy solo among Come On Now's glam racket. [Feb 2026, p.102]

often esoteric and elusive, EXPO is also a warmly alluring art-rock declaration of determined intent. [Feb 2026, p.103]

As closer I'll Ask Her lands a sharp-edged critique of closed-ranks machismo, URGH's urgency of purpose is the loudest takeaway here. [Feb 2026, p.101]

The result is a truly international Americana classic. [Feb 2026, p.100]

Sébastien Tellier appears to have got his mojo back on his eighth studio album. [Feb 2026, p.103]

Ratboys have definitively made one of 2026's first brilliant albums. [Feb 2026, p.103]

Not Here Not Gone reaffirms Blackwater Holylight's status as metal elites. [Feb 2026, p.101]

The Buzzcocks are back. Pete Shelley is, sadly, no more but Steve Diggle does a rip-roaring job in reinventing the band, even if we miss the nasal vocals. [Feb 2026, p.101]

I Know Where Mark Chen Lives and The Opossum, both of which race by in a blur of sawtooth guitars, spring-loaded basslines and earnest vocals. Yet there is dynamic range here, too. [Jan 2026, p.101]

It sounds like it must have already existed, but therein lies the appeal of a record that is tribute to perseverance and belief, and the power of truly, great timeless songs. Mark it down as the first great album of 2026. [Jan 2026, p.102]

The excellent PP Arnold featuring lead single Poison Vine is a good indicator of the move towards a very Stones-y type of uplifting soulful rock and blues; the swelling gospel rock of Don't Look Away is the most stirring thing they've done yet. [Jan 2026, p.101]

Adamson's score is suitably eclectic, reflecting both his mastery of film scoring as well as the broad range of content that once thrilled London audiences. [Jan 2026, p.100]

World’s Gone Wrong may well turn out to be a landmark release in Lucinda Williams’ career. But it’s not only its uncompromising lyrical message but its musical direction that raises questions. You can’t recapture lightning in a bottle, and it may be that her future lies in a less quirky, more strident genre than previously. And that’s a choice she has earned the right to make. [Jan 2026, p.98]

An ornate folk album that brims with rich orchestration and incisive lyrics. [Jan 2026, p.101]

The tunes are Tin Pan Alley, the lyrics a compassionate castigation of humanity. [Jan 2026, p.102]

Secret Love follows 2022’s Stumpwork, an album that pushed Dry Cleaning’s sound towards more expansive routes, a direction of travel that, with the help of Cate Le Bon’s expert production, has led to their best work yet. It is also their most direct. [Christmas 2025, p.130]

Enriched and incisive, expansive and introspective, The Demise Of Planet X never settles for second-hand goods. [Feb 2026, p.100]

Confident, confessional pop from masters of the craft. [Jan 2026, p.103]

Complements her poetic lyrics with intricate, arpeggiated folk guitar to haunting effect. [Jan 2026, p.103]

The luxurious strings are heavenly, while the twang of an electric guitar and understated drums push it gently forward. [Jan 2026, p.103]

The four Memento Mori outtakes included are sub-par, but the concert material turns moody introspection into a black celebration of life with thunderously affirmative power. [Jan 2026, p.101]

The nine studio rarities and 16 live tracks add light to the story. .... The live recordings from Los Angeles Sports Arena in April 1975 are a revelation. .... Wish You were Here 50, riding the gravy train or not, really does have plenty to delight. [Christmas 2025, p.120]

Ultimately. Black And White deserves this bells-and-whistles resuscitation (though collectors may be stretched by Zoetrope and marbleised wax incarnations!). [Christmas 2025, p.129]

Spira finds Arnalds' talent revivified, blooming to earthy, dreamy and transporting effect. [Christmas 2025, p.132]

Holy Island is a magnificent opening statement and the mind boggles as to where they might venture next. [Christmas 2025, p.135]

His own trio take garage rock to new levels with the inane vocals, throbbing bass, crashing drums and screaming guitar of Sherlock.... [Christmas 2025, p.133]

The latest from equally thunderous Childish girls for a mostly covers collection. .... On balance, the girls come out ahead, but get them both. [Christmas 2025, p.133]

Expressive and resonant, this is an accomplished work. [Christmas 2025, p.133]

Racing through 13 tracks in just 30 minutes, their third album (and first for new label, Domino) is no less succinctly potent. [Christmas 2025, p.135]

The results plugs directly into Tron's AI-apocalypse mainframe. It's the end of teh world as we know it, essentially, but NIN fit in just fine. [Christmas 2025, p.134]

Start casting the stage version now. [Christmas 2025, p.134]

Fans of Joni Mitchell and early PJ Harvey will relate to Fatal Optimist on a visceral level. [Christmas 2025, p.133]

While unearthed solo cuts like the eerie Child Bride intrigue, it's the stab at rocking up one of the most wilfully unrocking albums in the canon which really fascinates. [Christmas 2025, p.128]

True, tangible contrasts in their approaches to singing emerge, with Katie’s voice often soaring above the backdrop and Allison’s delivery more often immersed in the arrangements. Yet when they harmonise, as on supremely confident album standout Wasteland, they sound innately simpatico. [Christmas 2025, p.134]

The four volumes of the Anthology offer an impressive overview of 12 years of work (plus the Threetles and the Twotles). [Dec 2025, p.88]

The compelling results span creepy lounge music, homebrewed pop, suicide folk, the attempted channelling of Simply Red and a lo-fi glam piece that's about as sexy as the dimmed lights scene from I'm Alan Partridge. [Dec 2025, p.101]

A hard bop masterclass, that's for sure. [Nov 2025, p.95]

The Miracle Year pairs this [First Avenue club] show with other assorted tracks, most of which sound like a glorious, scratchy cassette bootleg, led by the galvanizing Celebrated Summer and Chartered Trips. [Dec 2025, p.91]

Reimagines songs from his catalogue alongside some new cuts and captures him on brilliant form. [Dec 2025, p.101]

At every turn, the vocal powerhouse reminds us why her songs have connected on such a large scale. [Dec 2025, p.101]

Among the highlights, Taking Out The Trash's dissonant, Herbie Hancock-esque electronics are grounded by punk funk basslines; Stepping In/The Loop's repetitive, guitar-and-synthesizer rhythms prove giddily hypnotic while the shimmering Brood Board SHROOOM embraces celestial strains of ambient jazz. [Dec 2025, p.103]

There's a lot going on here on what is a balanced and well-crafted album. [Dec 2025, p.98]