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]