Bejar's MO remains a richly cinematic pleasure: alluring, allusive and absorbing. [May 2025, p.103]

Send A Prayer My Way exceeds any expectations, no matter how lofty. [May 2025, p.102]

Adebimpe's solo bow is a bracingly personal blast of emotion, invention and radiant positivity. [May 2025, p.102]

Another step forward from a rare talent. [May 2025, p.102]

They still throw molotovs at the tabloid milieu's toxic rhetoric, decisiveness and xenophobia. Yet the music is, generally, more pensive and poetic and, thus, more powerful. [May 2025, p.103]

A Study Of Losses is ultimately a pleasant (if sometimes monotonous) release. [May 2025, p.103]

A work of powerful, gothic solemnity. [Apr 2025, p.105]

[Rathlin From A Distance] assert his niche in the near-minimalist canon. .... The Liquid Hour is a contrasting group of ambient electronica grooves. [Apr 2025, p.105]

Often embraces sophisticated dance-pop, led by the disco-kissed single Baby and the introspective, percolating Spirit. [Feb 2025, p.103]

Liberated by the lack of drums, the songs are fluid and exploratory, organic yet tinged with electronica. The feathery settings range freely, creating room for the variably thoughtful, reflective and playful lyrics to breathe. [Apr 2025, p.104]

An album that's found the singer engaged again, hungry to work and with a keen eye on quality control, given a creative kickstart by a younger talent whose reverence is tangible but never submissive. [Apr 2025, p.98]

Ultimately, it's an well-executed update on his storied history. [Apr 2025, p.102]

A homespun but thoughtfully energetic package which recreates the intimacy of its creation. [Mar 2025, p.104]

This is a delightful, delicate return. [Apr 2025, p.105]

There's a freaky, hippy-ish feel. [Apr 2025, p.101]

Certain tracks are closer to the power ballad moments of Skunk Anansie. Spellling's vocal skills remain impressive as ever. [Apr 2025, p.103]

He was at Slowhand's side for MTV Unplugged, and this Vinyl/download release has very much the same vibe. [Apr 2025, p.102]

Upliftingly different. [Apr 2025, p.102]

All of this music is a blast, an affecting display of the emotional textures which Collins has always dealt in so confidently, regardless of his health issues. [Apr 2025, p.100]

Cosmically cool. [Apr 2025, p.101]

These are stripped-back songs rich in detail and full of heart, studded with everyday moments and cultural references. [Apr 2025, p.101]

D'Addario’s melodic flair and virtuosity are on full, inviting display here. [Apr 2025, p.101]

A collection encompassing wistful dreampop (Football), evocative indie (Gumshoe (Dracula From Arkansas) and delicate introspection (Beautiful Girl). [Apr 2025, p.105]

Both halves are part of the ever-changing whole, ebbing and flowing, lyrics taking in the reality of life, from doing the shopping to grander visions. [Apr 2025, p.105]

These moonlit serenades and hand grenades are, as ever, ingenious. [Apr 2025, p.105]

Perhaps the strongest work yet from a unique talent. [Apr 2025, p.102]

Night Life is enigmatic, entertaining "dark" rock which will thrill those too young to be familiar with the work of Psychedelic Furs, Sisters of Mercy or Depeche Mode. [Apr 2025, p.102]

A record built around contemplations on healing and taking on your demons isn't always a soothing ride, though - at times the quirky freak folk elements come to the fore, somewhat shaking up the ground for meditation. Still, A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole is a bold and successful attempt to express oneself as he is. [Apr 2025, p.102]

That voice is wisely placed front and centre, where it bristles with energy, elevating the superior indie-rock of Fist Of Flowers and Knockin' Heart into heart-in-mouth anthems. [Apr 2025, p.102]

This isn't quite up there with his very best efforts, but it nevertheless includes some typically excellent (and poignant) reflections on human existence. [Apr 2025, p.102]

It's most intriguing when Lennox deviates from catchy pop nuggets. [Apr 2025, p.103]

A fluid, fully felt album of artfully crafted confessionals and catharsis. [Apr 2025, p.103]

Long-time Jacket-watchers might miss the wig-outs of their previous album, but the band’s range and power haven’t been compromised so much as integrated and harnessed. .... My Morning Jacket’s ongoing momentum feels earned and assured. [Mar 2025, p.102]

Tull’s strangely titled 24th studio effort breaks no new ground, yet would fit seamlessly into the band’s run of polished 80s albums like Crest Of A Knave and Rock Island. [Mar 2025, p.105]

Exhaustive and impressively curated. .... The "fundamentals" are a bit like Get Back without the laughs, exras surely reserved for the fanatics. Patience may lead to moments of revelation for intrepid listeners, though on the whole, these experiments demystify the process of songwriting itself. [Feb 2025, p.95]

Banks forsakes "overthinking" on this slick, sensuous mix of seductions and aggressions. [Mar 2025, p.102]

This is a dreamily delightful debut. [Mar 2025, p.105]

Little here quite matches the inquisitive methodologies of Allison's Consciousology, but this like-minded pairing's double vison is a beguiling place to lose yourself in. [Feb 2025, p.102]

Possessing a kinetic, free-spirited energy. [Mar 2025, p.103]

The theme of loss crops up regularly in the lyrics, as well. Loss of what? You name it. Sleep. Youth. Innocence. Life. Looks. The list goes on. None of this is to say that Here We Go Crazy doesn’t still rock hard, however. [Mar 2025, p.

Stylishly crafted. Manchester has an exciting new voice. [Mar 2025, p.105]

there's also a powerful, invigorating beauty about their best work yet, [Mar 2025, p.103]

Luminescent Creatures confirms Aoba as one of folk music's most consistently beguiling artists. [Feb 2025, p.102]

The album's experimental second half verges perilously on sketchy, but serene motorik closer Space Station Mantra offers a finely modulated sow of its maker's tastes and instincts. [Mar 2025, p.103]

Doves have endured intact, hopeful, and with a document to perseverance that is fitting for one of indie-rock’s great survivors. [Feb 2025, p.100]

Young Knives will thrill the faithful, but the lapsed should consider a catch-up, too. [Mar 2025, p.105]

Armageddon In A Summer Dress is brimming with musical and lyrical invention. Sensational. [Mar 2025, p.105]

Imaginative, reflective and confident, complemented by Thomas Healy and Samuel George Taylor's empathic production work, there's fine songwriting here. [Mar 2025, p.105]

Ollie Judge's vocal drawl may remain slightly too post-punk 101, but otherwise Cowards teems with ideas that land. [Mar 2025, p.105]

Welcome evidence of a still young band stretching themselves and maturing at a pleasing pace. [Mar 2025, p.105]

A wonderful debut that's heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure. [Mar 2025, p.104]

With Hayden's measured voice resembling a sigh from the grave and her plucked banjo brittle, When I Was In My prime exemplifies the record's sustained evocations of melancholy poise and elemental emotions. [Mar 2025, p.103]

Manages to bridge the gap between electronic experimentation and unabashed pop. [Mar 2025, p.103]

Their gentlest yet. [Feb 2025, p.104]

Handled with a care the world has refused them, these characters' tales make for devastatingly immersive listening. [Feb 2025, p. 103]

The songwriting and its deadpan delivery are still engaging but the overall feel is so understated as to be frustratingly bashful. [Feb 2025, p.103]

With tracks often constructed with slick funk basslines and sleek electronics, there is much to enjoy in versatile songs that don't outstay their welcome. [Feb 2025, p.102]

The album teems with very well constructed, uncomplicated, what-it-says-on-the-tin indie, with the runaway, synth-led, The Strokes-y Like You Did Before a highlight. [Feb 2025, p.103]

It's a serious, pensive album that makes its points with articulacy and no risk of ever outstaying its welcome. [Feb 2025, p.104]

There's promise here, but further Theroising might require firmer definition in practice. [Feb 2025, p.105]

The country accompaniments are elegant and often subtle, yet never dreary. [Jan 2025, p.102]

So full of moments of disarming beauty is Heard Noises that it’s often easy to miss the discomfiting observations within. .... Arguably his best album yet. [Jan 2025, p.102]

This is blazing, and even now nobody does it better. [Feb 2025, p.104]

Just when you're thinking Saint Etienne can't possibly maintain such high standards after three decades, The Night begins to turn your head around. [Feb 2025, p.105]

These are well-written, well-delivered songs. Look Up works because Ringo is being taken seriously. He is, of course, his own worst enemy at times, but Burnett won’t allow Ringo to stray too far into ‘personality’ songs. [Feb 2025, p.102]

It's Only A Love Song is a rapturous record keeps you coming back for more. [Jan 2025, p.103]

Their last outing earned them a Grammy, but the confidence and cohesion of Bloom is arguably even more worthy of gongs. [Jan 2025, p.103]

Critical Thinking lashes out against the ills of the modern world and asks vital questions about the purpose of art and their own relevance. If that sounds heavy, it’s mostly set to some of the most uplifting music of their career, all shimmering, arpeggiated 80s indie, exultant choruses, and their take on the Big Music (Bunnymen, early Simple Minds, Waterboys) that set the teenage Manics’ hearts racing. [Jan 2025, p.100]

[Producer John "Spud" Murphy] brings a sense of space and simplicity to the music, the better to listen to Savage's warm, consoling voice and lyricism. [Jan 2025, p.105]

This is a bold, powerful and brilliant reinvention. [Jan 2025, p.103]

Even on a record of many detours, the closing three tracks are uniquely surprising. [Jan 2025, p.104]

Jamieson might be left with more questions than answers, but her talent for emotional incisions is beyond doubt. [Jan 2025, p.103]

On Héritage, they go back to the source, and prove there’s plenty of life to be celebrated. [Jan 2025, p.105]

This one lives up to the hype, producing acme-level chamber jazz and acknowledging Blue Note's history while pushing the label's narrative forward toward futurity. [Jan 2025, p.105]

Late in the year, it’s the most all-round glorious reissue of 2024. [Jan 2025, p.90]

A record of complex emotions and fine-grained nuance. [Jan 2025, p.105]

A hit/miss curio of a record. [Jan 2025, p.104]

Talking Heads: 77 is truly fascinating. From the demos and outtakes through the album to the live show, it demonstrates a young bad, without a route map, re-writing pop music. [Jan 2025, p.95]

Serious times call for serious records, which Franz Ferdinand have delivered with their sixth studio album. Well, sort of. Fear in all forms is examined on The Human Fear, but there's still that lightness of touch that marks them out as a band it's fun to dance to. [Jan 2025, p.102]

This anthemic approach will undoubtedly work in a live setting, tracks such as Flowers In The Rain ad=nd the Evocative I Will Set Fire To The House indicate a wide repertoire. Fascinating to see how they develop their sound next time round. [Jan 2025, p.105]

Moore's laconic vocal style serves every track well. [Jan 2025, p.104]

There's a certain amount of aggression here - see Purge, an homage to the horror film series - but otherwise Merciless is largely a toetapper rather than a headbanger. [Jan 2025, p.102]

The album's highlights range from toe-tapping big band swingers (Big John's Special) and serene Ballads (Tapestry For An Asteroid) to more Outre pieces like the epic Friendly Galaxy and the otherworldly Reflects Motion. [Jan 2025, p.92]

Its 21 affectingly overdub-free songs reveal an essential truth of The National in the 202s, that they're a band at the absolute height of their live powers. [Christmas 2024, p.133]

12 is a bright, fresh joy, lovingly tooled for pure uplift. [Christmas 2024, p.133]

An intriguing but ultimately underwhelming record. [Christmas 2024, p.131]

Halo Moon distils everything that makes them great on one handy album. [Christmas 2024, p.133]

Some of the best playing of his career. Essential listening. [Christmas 2024, p.121]

Another winner with their seventh album. A big part of its success is down to smart collaborations. [Christmas 2024, p.131]

Elusive but unerringly questing and beautiful, Camelot thinks bigger than any billboard. [Christmas 2024, p.130]

Highlights abound, but it's hard to beat the sorrowful strains of Double Business Bound and its swirl of piano and steel guitar, or the overhauled Tom Petty jangle of Taught By Experts. [Christmas 2024, p.133]

There are subtler, sometimes surprising, details lurking in the main maelstrom. Also in contrast to that cathartically apocalyptic racket, the duo have added some nice warm brass parts. [Christmas 2024, p.131]

An album that's one long masterstroke. [Christmas 2024, p.132]

This isn’t an album in the Simon & Garfunkel mould, a folk-tinged duo with a good-humoured foray into the past. There’s barely a guitar in sight, instead all violins and cellos, just a touch of electro going on amid the orchestrations that make it, at times, dark and moody, and always thoughtful and imaginative. The orchestrations are deftly arranged, far from simply a star singing with strings attached. [Christmas 2024, p.128]

Campbell'n'Lanegan-ish duet Driving Nowhere (with Pat Dam Smyth) could use more tension, but the guitar spiked likes of Daily Rituals and Ceremony sow determination and fortitude. [Dec 2024, p.109]

This new remix of the album’s original 11 songs is subtle rather than headline-grabbing, thanks to the sympathetic diligence of triple Grammy-winner Paul Hicks, a longtime friend of the Harrison family. That’s borne out by the softly-softly handling of the previously unheard outtakes, polished for public consumption but never at the expense of their embryonic intimacy. [Christmas 2024, p.123]

Once you’ve finished playing spot the difference it’s a blast. .... And the mono mixes have a vitality and punch often lacking from recent remixes. [Christmas 2024, p.120]

In terms of the original nine-track album, a new stereo mix is designed to bring a warmer ambience to proceedings, and it succeeds especially on The Night Comes Down’s clearly defined separations of May’s many multi-layered guitars, a fuller in-your-face theatricality to Freddie Mercury’s voice (on Great King Rat and Jesus most effectively), and more organically resonant drums throughout. .... This is a record that continues to impress as a groundbreaking hybrid of heavy rock, prog and glam. [Dec 2024, p.97]