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]

It's an epic of self-conscious protest, asking questions about the way the global and the local become corporate, homogenous anti-realities, pegged to songs that play loose with genre. [Apr 2020, p.25]

The songs' relative lack of eccentricity makes CocoRosie seem oddly run-of-the-mill. [Apr 2020, p.25]

There's an appealingly alien quality to Joyfultalk's third album, a sound that drifts beyond familiar reference points. [Apr 2020, p.28]

With a touch of the sinister, James' voice swerves through a spectrum of wild emotions; folk, blues and a dreamy, eerie style of pop wind their way through everything here. [Apr 2020, p.27]

The result is, as much as you'd expect, elegant and tranquil. [Apr 2020, p.27]

Showing off a musical muscularity built up from three years on the road. [Feb 2020, p.35]

Dury seems to have found a tone and groove that he's both relishing and flourishing in. [Apr 2020, p.27]

A dazzling return. [Apr 2020, p.30]

Intriguing. [Mar 2020, p.27]

The overarching atmosphere is masterful, a sense of brimming anxiety that unites even as it unsettles. [Apr 2020, p.37]

Sonically it's a sinister palette: classical folk laced with dynamite blasts of electronics. Yet, the inner contents are tender. [Apr 2020, p.37]

Crunching glam riffs, foot-stamping choruses and lip-smacking vocals - delivered with trademark gusto by Bob Geldof. [Apr 2020, p.25]

Feels like a peculiar reprise of [2007's Tromatic Reflexxions]. [Mar 2020, p.35]

This is an impeccably put-together record. [Apr 2020, p.37]

The record features contributions from a host of their pals, such as The Orb's Alex Paterson on the blissed-out "Burnt Umber," writer Vivien Goldman on Bizarro Bond-theme "Rhino" and Alabama 3's Aurora Dawn on reggae spiritual "Keep On Moving." [Apr 2020, p.37]

While Hutchings' trademark, frantically circling sax figures are prominent, it's the album's sombre moments that prove the most powerful. [Apr 2020, p.35]

This delightfully unlikely collaboration is as much fun to listen to as you suspect it was to make. [Apr 2020, p.26]

The record is awash with sparkling, instantly memorable melodies. [Apr 2020, p.28]

The songs are uniformly strong, for one thing; the delivery is smart, a kind of airy, gently gothic arch-pop, completed by Jean's conversational vocals. It's a wonderfully dynamic set of songs. [Apr 2020, p.28]

An engaging thing it is too. [Apr 2020, p.28]

Unexpected digressions often invigorate their third full-length. [Apr 2020, p.28]

Every note of this album is saturated with a very particular melancholy that keeps these spacey songs closely anchored to the earth. [Apr 2020, p.28]

Ideas fly out of Collector at a dizzying pace. [Apr 2020, p.27]

The lyrics are presented with such conviction that it becomes quietly devastating. Rather like Swamp Dogg himself. [Apr 2020, p.24]

A set of 12 colour-saturated, avant electronic-soul tracks, where Sumney's extraordinary voice is strong, clear and central to the mix rather than one element of it. [Apr 2020, p.37]

A joyous album, one that doesn't wander off along unnecessary tangents and keeps their indulgence in check. [Apr 2020, p.29]

The wry, heartfelt "Cash Up" and truly touching "Amberjack" are highlights; that he exits on the breezy, sardonic bonus track "Juliefuckingette" is a reminder, though, that yes, it's still Malkmus. [Apr 2020, p.30]

An audaciously original album - a bedroom-laptop fever dream from a parallel universe. [Apr 2020, p.33]

This set traces a downward trajectory toward disco, but every album has its highlights. [Mar 2020, p.47]

There are many timeless, brilliant moments. [Mar 2020, p.45]

A cornucopia of delights from a band with an unerring ear for melody, undervalued in their heyday. [Mar 2020, p.49]

If there are occasions when the rugged soloing gets a little bogged down in detail, there are many others where the trio achieve moments of adrenalising magic.

Out Of My Province retains the earthen quality of her previous works, but with an added confidence, her words enunciated with a newfound assurance. [Apr 2020, p.22]

Heavy Light is no one-note affair. ... Artfully honest songs. [Apr 2020, p.36]

It's clear Masin has not catered to his new hipster audience but rather remained true to his elemental vision. [Mar 2020, p.33]

Listeners seeking more of those exquisite harmonies are well served by glorious opening track "Silver," among others. [Apr 2020, p.35]

Touches of stoner metal in "Four Strangers Enter The Cement At Dusk" or a deeper psychedelic bent on "Harsho" offer variety, but the name of the game is sheer glee. [Apr 2020, p.37]

A poignant folk-jazz take on Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" is the standout and it's all impeccably tasteful - but in a threadbare kind of way. [Apr 2020, p.37]

What it sometimes lacks in surprise, it makes up for in consistency. [Mar 2020, p.30]

Cray's oft-overlooked voice croons with rare tenderness over the Bobby "Blue" Bland cut "You're The One," and there's a spiky funk to Don Gardner's "My Baby Likes To Boogaloo." But Cray's own compositions are just as striking. [Apr 2020, p.26]