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

Stupendous stuff. [Jun 2025, p.104]

There's no way of guessing what's coming next. Americana doesn't do it justice. [Nov 2025, p.105]

This is a no-quibble five-star release and truly essential listening. [Oct 2025, p.120]

A country classic (yet tempting for rock fans, too) made up of leftovers that would have been career greats for so many artists. [Nov 2025, p.97]

Tugs gently but effectively at every heart string. [Christmas 2025, p.133]

This Old Dog plays soft and sweet; but its rheumy eyes betray the pain.

Whether all this is owing to a slight change in line-up (on bass and violin) or just increased confidence, it’s impossible to tell, but whatever the reason, Lanterns On The Lake are shining more brightly.

The thing is, by Adams’ standards, too many of the songs sound slightly underwritten.

Get past the familiar jangle of the opening four songs, and there are far subtler nuances to contemplate.

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

There’s enough going on in the grooves of Smote Reverser to satisfy your psych and/or prog urges for the foreseeable future, let alone in the few months it’ll take Dwyer to follow it up.

The feeling is one of two planets that happened to get into each other’s orbit, with pleasing results. Hopefully they’ll eclipse again soon.

Sketches Of Brunswick East is the band’s mellowest outing since 2015’s Paper Mâché Dream Balloon.

Although at times it underwhelms, at its best this album absolutely convinces and leaves no doubt as to the ability of its creator.

Goat continue to make some magical and mysterious music. [Nov 2024, p.99]

Compassion is a major grower, but this is because its fusions don’t all immediately translate. Barnes profits from holding onto some of the answers.

The Wasted Years collects these first four releases; a fabulous chance to get reacquainted with the magic of the Butcher, and what sweetly daft indie sounded like in the mid-80s.

This is a master craftsman at work, without bells, whistles or any other gimmicks. True country classicism.

This disc represents a decent, very listenable attempt at updating that picture. It is however, a relatively small album, overlooked both by predecessors from the new wave era and by more recent, lofty stadium takes on the sound.

Ideas reaches out rather more, while French Drop is a sleight-of-hand piece that works on several levels.

Blue Elephant is like a soundtrack to a classic ITC TV programme, with lots of jumping into sleek jaguars and speeding along Chelsea Embankment. If that ticks your boxes, this is one of the best albums you’ll hear all year.

Buckingham has crafted a solid rather than seismic affair.

They build their own world. Eventually you grasp its shrewdly filtered emotion and want to live there, too.

Heaton remains the go-to chronicler of the Everyman condition, but let’s not underplay Abbott’s vital contribution as both equal-billing foil and relatable conduit of female perspectives in these songs. Plays not just for today, but for weeks, months and years to come.

Wherever you listen, ideas accrue: given a gleaming production by Tunng's Mike Lindsay, Springs ... contains outsider art-pop multitudes. [Apr 2024, p.103]

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

As with previous albums, the musicianship is impeccable, but Cooper's vocals often fell too polite, the guitars bloodless. [Sep 2025, p.105]