With Neil Tennant adding to the sense of occasion on a joyful Rebel Rebel, a celebratory There Is A Light... affirms Marr's undimmed bond with his audience. [Oct 2025, p.131]

A loving feat of minimalist yet atmospheric collaboration, executed with exquisitely controlled restraint. [Oct 2025, p.133]

The result is Case's finest yet: a record of fire, felling and finely detailed distinction. [Oct 2025, p.132]

Michelangelo Dying, her seventh, is her most refined accomplishment yet. [Oct 2025, p.130]

Saving Grace may sound organic, but make no mistake; this carefully curated mix of British and American influences, both ancient and modern, clearly bears Plant’s personal stamp. [Oct 2025, p.128]

Generous and unguarded, Twilight Override contains multitudes. [Oct 2025, p.133]

Each of the 14 songs here is a gem in its own right, packed with witty wordplay and sophisticated hooks. [Sep 2025, p.105]

Joy In Repetition carries on where last year's augmentation of their debut album, Coming On Strongerer, left off. [Oct 2025, p.122]

Hasn't sounded so confident since his 90s commercial peak. [Oct 2025, p.131]

With style, charm and feeling, Lekman's lush valentines to love songs revel in all they survey. [Oct 2025, p.131]

Although Alex Farrar's production is slightly more refined, that only means vocalist Karly Hartzman's conspiratorial storytelling is crystal clear and the North Carolina band's musicianship is thrown in sharp relief. [Oct 2025, p.133]

These albums aren’t grand artistic statements, nor do they need to be. Nothing’s gonna touch him in these silver years (wah wah wah), and he’s tossing them out there for fun alone. He also sounds like he’s enjoying himself, chatting and joking, on the much-seen Montreux Jazz Festival gig from 2002, preserved here (and featuring a near-complete performance of Low). Montreux isn’t the only extra: Reality Live is also here, as well as Re:Call 6. .... His next two albums were grand artistic statements. [Oct 2025, p.116]

Dim Probs engages with deeply rooted truths. [Oct 2025, p.133]

This is intelligent easy listening in a band setting. [Oct 2025, p.132]

His most compelling album in almost a decade. [Oct 2025, p.131]

A career high to match her attention-grabbing 2016 debut. [Oct 2025, p.133]

There's an abandoned sense of mischief and good times here that doesn't automatically come with overdosing on Rumours. [Oct 2025, p.133]

Throughout, Amos' playing is brilliant, ranging from savagely intense on Life Signs to Nights In Amor's classic FM radio pop. Yet the highlight is full-on techno monster Playing Classics, six minutes of delirious abandon. A beautiful place is right. [Oct 2025, p.133]

It benefits from listening in stillness rather than on a speedy walk. [Oct 2025, p.132]

Byrne isn’t on fire here: while the songs do sometimes deal with biggish issues with elan, the music’s just too merry, too jovial. Of course, that contrast is deliberate, but – perhaps it’s the times we live in – it feels pat in context, even glib. [Oct 2025, p.132]

It's a metaphor for absence, loneliness and disconnection, which Harding explores via eleven songs whose retro soul feel is enhanced by Steve Hackman's lavishly elegant string arrangements. [Oct 2025, p.131]

The overarching sentiment of the album - that development isn't linear, and healing is often cyclical. [Oct 2025, p.130]

The Beaches get their points across by grafting moody alt-rock textures - looking at you, The Smiths-esque Dirty Laundry and Cure-reminiscent Sorry For Your Loss - with explosive chorus hooks. [Oct 2025, p.130]

To the end, Saint Etienne have never faltered on their mission statement. Magic is here. Believe. [Sep 2025, p.103]

Los Angeles and Double Infinity evoke the stream of consciousness brilliance of R.E.M.'s E-Bow The Letter, while Happy With You finds blissed-out rapture in repetition, All Night All Day is the lusty country song of the year and No Fear achieved Zen enlightenment in dub. [Sep 2025, p.103]

Improbably, they've pulled off the rarest of feats: a middle-aged rock band who remain interesting and invigorated, going from strength to strength. [Sep 2025, p.101]

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

A little more variety in tone would allow the album's heavier tracks to hit harder, but if it's high-quality heavy rock you're after, Beth has delivered it consistently. [Sep 2025, p.103]