It'll be nice on a Netflix drama, but removes much of the tension between ambition and accomplishment in which melancholy indie rock traditionally thrives. [Jul 2020, p.30]

Head Above The Water is a triumph of sensitivity, as Power's exquisite voice gives shape and contour to folk-centric songs that assimilates elements of country, jazz and experimental drone. [Jul 2020, p.33]

The Nashville-based songwriter's toughness and tenacity soars through her brand of showstopper 1970s country. [Jul 2020, p.39]

A lachrymose collection of Elvis Costello-rootsy, mid-Atlantic songs expertly constructed but running rather low on stardust. [Jul 2020, p.36]

The Gallic tendency to prettify everything into anodyne melodic gloop occasionally jars. [Jun 2020, p.38]

Clear-eyed, warm and stylish. [Jul 2020, p.20]

It's a wild ride and brilliantly sequenced. [Jul 2020, p.30]

As irresistibly loopy and buoyantly Beefheartian as anything in Deerhoof's formidable back catalogue. [Jul 2020, p.29]

Not a disaster = almost a triumph. [Jul 2020, p.39]

Weird and sporadically wonderful. [Jul 2020, p.39]

Layered vocal effects and unexpected rhythms on tracks like "Messenger" and "Loud" reward repeated listens, while the pounding, jagged drums of "Caged Sleep" and blissed-out fuzz-pop of "Wheel" offer immediate satisfaction. [Jul 2020, p.39]

The result is park reckoning and part explosive joy, as the band lean further into the hip-hop side of their influences. [Jul 2020, p.36]

Smith habitually flows everything together, creating glowing and serene canvases of sound with her own gentle and expressive voice hymning at the centre. [Jul 2020, p.34]

These delectable hookfests metaphorically parallel Hadreas's move from the gloom of his Seattle hometown to his new base in sunswept L.A. [Jul 2020, p.33]

While her low-slung, downtempo default doesn't always hit the mark, though, she dissects every lyrical twist of hope and disgust on a fine version of Neil Yong's "On The Beach." [Jul 2020, p.30]

The top line melodies don't always cut that deep, but with such intriguing decoration, we're still enchanted. [Jul 2020, p.29]

His workmanship persists. Forever on the skids, but still upright. [Jul 2020, p.27]

Fetch The Bolt Cutters is mostly the soundtrack of liberation, not recrimination, with Apple's piano keys, battering on the walls and barking dogs as its percussive, beating heart. [Jul 2020, p.27]

It's unwieldy, cheesy, overlong, confusing and, just occasionally, inspired. [Jul 2020, p.25]

Untamed talent still. [Jun 2020, p.37]

Strange To Explain might be about dreaming and escape but it's also about their limitations, our need for hoke and the importance of other people. [Jun 2020, p.31]

For all that Ghosts Of West Virginia is a serious work contemplating a serious subject, there are moments where Earle sounds like he's having more fun than any time since The Mountain. [Jun 2020, p.32]

Comes awfully close to the masterwork he so clearly gunning to make. [Jun 2020, p.38]

A typically assured piece of work. [Jun 2020, p.30]

Filled to the brim with usual abundance of trademark lyrical zingers, tenacious earworm melodies and stylistic zigzags. [Jun 2020, p.26]

At first the music seems hermetically sealed; only with repeated listens - and an emphatic twist of the knob - do the subtle splendours burst out of the aural chrysalis containing them and take flight. [Jun 2020, p.34]

The woozy, lovely songs on their third album now have an unexpected urgency. [Jun 2020, p.34]

Though the more rhythmic nature of tracks like "Oblivion Theme" prevent the album from dissolving into ambient haze, the deep bass rumbles and rich textures provide plenty of pillowy comforts for other weary listeners. [Jun 2020, p.30]

The instrumental interludes full of hypnotic loops and Mellotrons are intriguing enough, but the meat lies in the lushly layered art-pop songs. [Jun 2020, p.30]

If the dark intensity leans close to self-parody at times, there are enough musical surprises to bring some light to Lanegan's darkness. [Jun 2020, p.33]

It's his best yet. [Jun 2020, p.38]

No shortage of flamboyant tunes. [Jun 2020, p.27]

Ejimiwe has made a record filled with quiet bubbling tension yet also leaves room for lightness, offering a glimmer of hope amid the brooding dread. [Jun 2020, p.29]

The sheer depth of ideas is impressive, but the result is exhausting. [Jun 2020, p.33]

The songwriter digs into the sound of his intense inner voice here. [Jun 2020, p.33]

He and the band skillfully avoid any notion of contrivance, instead bending these vintage styles to persuasive effect. [May 2020, p.28]

Lynne's rawest, most intimately person album since I Am Shelby Lynne broke with her country roots 20 years ago. [Jun 2020, p.34]

The results move their sound on significantly. The radical honesty of the lyrics is key. [Jun 2020, p.29]

It feels more like a bedroom project than their recent full-band work, yet Toledo's knack for an irresistible choruses endures. [Jun 2020, p.28]

Halo's assertive pieces, with Oliver Coates on cello, heighten the experience. [Jun 2020, p.29]

As dazzling as it is diverse. [May 2020, p.25]

Highlights are the playfully bobbing rhythms of "Geruhsam" and epic closer "Aus Weiter Ferne," a masterful interplay of harmonic sweetness and menacing drone. [May 2020, p.32]

A little too polite in places, O'Donnell's piano-and-strings pastorals deepen in gravitas with repeat listens. [May 2020, p.31]

While the straight guitar-janglers sometimes border on generic, the eerie psych-rock incantation "Red Virginia Creeper" and the clanging, reverb-drenched barbs of "Charm And Tedium" prove more rewarding. [Jun 2020, p.29]

Several nuggets of power-pop excellence here that rank with the best on 2002's Lapalco. [May 2020, p.23]

10 duets of intricate stringed alchemy. [May 2020, p.27]

The title track;s urgent strums are more claustrophobic, while "Shaking"'s jangles are more prosaic. Largely, though, she's as refreshingly carefree as her lyrics are empowering. [Jun 2020, p.29]

The Don of Diamond Dreams finds Butler's effect-treated voice rippling through a prism of mutated funk and R&B that feels simultaneously sumptuous and deeply unconventional. [Jun 2020, p.37]

Erratic but still occasionally sublime. [Jun 2020, p.37]

There's nothing mediocre here. [Jun 2020, p.34]

A more mature expression of self-understanding. [Jun 2020, p.34]

A rich, gothic record, steeped in sensuality. [Jun 2020, p.29]

A bit long it may be, but his 10th studio album packs a punch while light on its feet. [Jun 2020, p.29]

Antarctica is leaner then Flat Worms, and if the tunes don't hit quite as hard, then at least the smart lyrics are easier to catch. [Jun 2020, p.29]

A powerful eulogy. [Jun 2020, p.28]

The shouty threesome's hit-rate is good. [Jun 2020, p.27]

It's been a gradual recalibration and Songs For Our Daughter ruffles more of Marling's characteristic composure: she's feeling the breeze, focused, pressing keenly forward. [Jun 2020, p.24]

She writes about toxic masculinity and abusive relationships with racing candour, and she sings with a fresh, unnerving snarl that weaponises her signature twang. [May 2020, p.35]

Prime cuts like "Words" and "City In The Country" bristle with renewed vigour and clarity of purpose. [Jun 2020, p.30]

A quietly spectacular bunch of songs. [Jun 2020, p.28]

This is unabashed bar room vibes with a healthy side order of redneck grit. [Mar 2020, p.25]

A compelling new chapter in their long history. [Jun 2020, p.39]

A heroic, controlled crash landing. [May 2020, p.25]

Buoyed by intimate guitar and keyboard riffs that also recall prime Kinks, ballads of hope arise. [May 2020, p.32]

As the album goes on, the songs gets richer and stranger. [May 2020, p.29]

The more one listens to Ever-Roving Eye, the more details emerge to elevate it from a mid-60s tribute to something wholly rooted in the present, and far stranger. ... An outstanding record. [May 2020, p.18]

Maybe Earth isn't packed with abstract intricacies to pore over like most of the other records he's been involved with, but it is fundamentally honest to its creator. [May 2020, p.24]

The most rewarding moments, though comes on those tracks which retain a more authentic Ethiopiques mystery. [May 2020, p.31]

The duo can do softer moments like the melancholic "The Mothership," but are at their best when offering principled and comedic disgust. [May 2020, p.28]

Excels in its moments of mournful rumination. [May 2020, p.35]

A blues feast. [Apr 2020, p.25]

Fun for all the family. [May 2020, p.28]

On several songs here Rubin helps peel back the years to reveal an energy and a passion that reminds you just how powerful was the band's initial proposition. [May 2020, p.30]

As so often, Chris Abrahams' piano provides an anchor. [May 2020, p.31]

For an album that carries such a terrible air of finality, it also feels strangely transitional. [Apr 2020, p.32]

The result is one of his most varied but distinct albums. [May 2020, p.35]

The album's finest moments come on "Crazy In Blood," when Pigs... manage simultaneously to crunch and swing with rousing effect. [May 2020, p.32]

While her voice remains breezy, follow-up If You're Dreaming is a different beast: slower in pace and softer in tone, the weariness of touring life sneaking into the party-girl lyrics. [May 2020, p.25]

From funk struts to tender touches, Thundercat's ascension continues rapidly here. [May 2020, p.35]

Excels in its moments of mournful rumination. [May 2020, p.35]

Richly textured music. [Apr 2020, p.35]

The album's refracted harmonies, fluttering synths and off-klter beats are sometimes unsettling, sometimes in deceptive, sensual communion. [May 2020, p.27]

21 haunting, electronic vignettes. [May 2020, p.35]

Waxahatchee's vision is clearer on Saint Cloud. [May 2020, p.34]

Upgraded in every sense: songs with deeper meanings, mountainous crescendos and choruses to communitise large crowds. [May 2020, p.32]

It's a rich, well-crafted piece of 1970s AOR, featuring elegantly written verses, choruses and - heaven forfend - middle eights. [May 2020, p.32]

Pearl Jam remain at their formidable best as a pure-hearted rock'n'roll band. [May 2020, p.32]

Blistering opener "Straight To Hell" sets the carpe diem tone. [May 2020, p.32]

Moments of sweetness. ... But there are other, less successful experiments. [May 2020, p.31]

Naturally Catto's drums are exceptionally tight throughout, but this is about much more than just the funky breaks. [May 2020, p.27]

Although the tongue-in-cheek title nods to the familiarity of these new songs, there's no shortage of ideas. [May 2020, p.27]

The songs here are mostly sparse and reflective. [May 2020, p.27]

It never gets deep. ... It's stupid, daft, and no wonder that when Josh Homme's looking for a night of goofy escapism he goes to see The Chats. [May 2020, p.26]

The album's musical tone is well judged, with Hiatt equally versed in flinty roots-rock and urban country songs. [May 2020, p.26]

The heart-tugging moments play to that devastatingly effective Appalachian-style yodel in Bulat's voice. [May 2020, p.25]

It's aggressively zen numbers such as "Enter Exit" and "Water" that finally succeed in dragging you up to that higher plain. [May 2020, p.23]

Warm, uplifting and fizzing with both passion and virtuosity, Rejoice is not only a fitting last will and testament from Masekela, but a glorious affirmation of music at its most potent and universal. [May 2020, p.22]

As the music heads dynamically towards its conclusion, you feel as if you are in safe hands, a life raft on a wave of crushing power. [Apr 2020, p.18]