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]