Lanegan's lyrics are as daft as ever. But that growling baritone voice and the soundscapes are never less than compelling. [Nov 2019, p.27]

Even if Lahs isn't quite the album Allah-Las believed they were making, it's still a minor marvel. [Nov 2019, p.21]

Two Hands is more grounded [than U.F.O.F.]. ... The music is also rawer and more immediate. [Nov 2019, p.22]

An uniformly compelling set. [Nov 2019, p.27]

A thrilling racket it is too, the quartet achieving a winning balance of improv and melodic suss on a bunch of hairy psychedelic jams. [Oct 2019, p.26]

White Noise/White Lines is a compelling showcase for both her admirable songwriting skills and, as Prine puts it, "One of the more authentic country voices I've heard in a long time." [Nov 2019, p.24]

A passionate and muscular record that oozes cool in every note. [Nov 2019, p.30]

Deceiver sees them return in a better mental state but with much the same spirit as when they left, delivering wafting waves of shimmering guitar over lyrics that hint at drama and turmoil. [Nov 2019, p.24]

Their most imaginative and immersive album yet, with Webber emerging as a more commanding frontwoman. [Nov 2019, p.28]

Songs Of Our Mothers taps into something much bigger than itself. ... It also helps that the music is quite remarkable. [Oct 2019, p.38]

It's a warm, beguiling set that tips its hat to roots music interpreters as disparate as Hoyt Axton, Fairport Convention, Dolly Parton, The Byrds and Bobbie Gentry, wile also tapping Cajun fiddle music and the work of Ralph Mooney. [Nov 2019, p.23]

Finely honed reflections that add a new perspective to the conversation of politics. ... The songs here are simple, but they contain multitudes. [Oct 2019, p.25]

All Mirrors is her boldest reinvention yet. [Nov 2019, p.30]

An intriguing body of work. [Nov 2019, p.22]

If Texas is a deliberately ambiguous assessment of Crowell’s home state, it’s also a resounding endorsement of the enduring powers of its composer.

This is a downbeat set, lean and lonesome yet never morose. [Nov 2019, p.38]

Temples seem to be in the thrall of Tame Impala's retro-futurism, but their in-studio moves fall short of Kevin Parker's aerodynamic wizardry, although they come tantalisingly close on "You're Either On Something," nimbly balancing delicacy and majesty. [Oct 2019, p.36]

Abbey Road is the sound of the Beatles walking into history. [Nov 2019, p.38]

The fizzy psych-funk of "A Good Luck" and "Sing Along" ramp up the atmosphere in grand style, matched by Simpson's fabulous baritone, through best of all is the monstrous "Fastest Horse In Town." [Nov 2019, p.30]

There's a uplifting buoyancy to these eight tracks. [Oct 2019, p.30]

Straddling past and present, this is Red River Dialect's most sunny and easygoing record to date. [Nov 2019, p.30]

Something of a grind--repeat helpings of grimly strummed acoustic guitar and keening vocals becoming the folk equivalent of consecutive courses of muesli. [Nov 2019, p.29]

The bleak piano ballad "Hello I'm Right Here," the suicidal "Hold My breath Until I Die" and the slow-burning synth-pop of "We Don't Have Fun When We're Together Anymore" all find curious joy in pain. [Nov 2019, p.33]

While the full deluxe treatment might not life Don't Tell A Soul all the way to "lost classic" status, it at least fleshes out an underappreciated chapter of The Replacements' messy saga. [Nov 2019, p.42]

The playful tumbles of verbiage are as central to the group's sonic identity as the key components of its baroque power pop. [Nov 2019, p.28]

This solo debut sees him working within a very limited sonic palette--doomy, minor-key constructions featuring distorted rhythm guitar riffs played over a grid of '80s synths and drum machines. These can be effective when paired with grim lyrics of small-town realism. [Oct 2019, p.33]

Come for songs and you'll be left wanting, but as a holy distillation of Moore's influences, Spirit Counsel impresses. [Oct 2019, p.30]

There's depth, vulnerability even humour to the lyrics. [Nov 2019, p.27]

This is vintage Roberts, rich poetry couched in spare, beautiful, quietly adventurous arrangements. [Oct 2019, p.36]

So much of Okie is overly sentimental, mono-paced balladry. [Nov 2019, p.27]

It's a breezy and easy listen, as displayed on the melodic shuffle of "Unfamiliar Sun," but there's also a deeply layered approach where stacks of harmonies and melodies interweave gracefully. [Nov 2019, p.33]

Epic debut, an emotionally rich and stylistically broad mediation on homeland, exile and identity. ... A lavish feast of an album. [Nov 2019, p.30]

The mood is upbeat throughout; a joyous, non-stop chug through several shades of American popular song. [Nov 2019, p.28]

Why Me? Why Not. ticks a number of boxes for his fanbase. [Nov 2019, p.25]

Whereas the band's grand ambitions have sometimes led to music that can feel unduly grandiose, "Uden Ansigt" and "Verden Forsvinder" mark a welcome return to the more intimately scaled music of their early years. [Nov 2019, p.25]

A thematically rich record, heavy on mood and elegantly written in a way that positions Del Rey between Eve Babitz and Carole King. There are beguiling and evolving melodies underneath the spare piano and acoustic arrangements. [Nov 2019, p.24]

These are tender anthems, even if some won't be readily singing lines like "eating your ass like an oyster" in a festival field. [Nov 2019, p.22]

The best songs here are the instrumentals. As a songwriter he relies on too many cliches, remains fiercely devoted to a stiff ABAB rhyme scheme and offers too few insights into his underworld characters. [Oct 2019, p.36]

Occasionally a little too meandering. [Oct 2019, p.26]

Throughout Jamie, Howard also continues to challenge the impressive instrument of her voice in unpredictable ways. ... Her quest for personal fulfillment doubles as a creative bloom as well, revealing new dimensions of her talent. [Oct 2019, p.18]

It's consistently charming. [Oct 2019, p.29]

All up, an(nother) apparently effortless hitting if the sweet spot. [Oct 2019, p.27]

The swooping strings and Escher-like melodic structures of "Camion" and "Yard Bull" are reassuringly familiar to Vannier enthusiasts. ... Patton rises to the occasion throughout. [Oct 2019, p.33]

For anyone who enjoys a dash of shimmering disco hedonism with their feminist theory, or who simply harbours a lingering respect for the sun-drenched joy of '90s trance techno, this album offers a richly rewarding dialogue with mainstream pop. Crucially, Hval understands well the strange, seductive, subversive potency of "cheap" music. [Oct 2019, p.28]

As with any enduring soundtrack, this collection of songs stands on its own. [Oct 2019, p.24]

It suffers somewhat from inevitably diminishing returns, in that it simply isn't anywhere near as good as their canonical records; that said, not much is. [Oct 2019, p.33]

Lots to unpack, and it's a pleasure to do so. [Oct 2019, p.30]

The result is an album that displays Wolfe's versatility and ability to stir power from whispers as easily as she does howls. [Oct 2019, p.39]

While Pang!, totalling just under half an hour, doesn't have the conceptual strengths of Babelsberg or American Interior, it's nevertheless a delight to hear Rhys once again embracing the possibilities of technology and harnessing modern, global sounds to enhance his unique vision. [Oct 2019, p.37]

These 13 grooving and textural song-poems are his most focused work to date and, although loaded with meaning, Ma never feels heavy or burdensome. [Oct 2019, p.24]

In an angry, impatient world it takes real dedication to carve out space for music this blissful. [Oct 2019, p.33]

There is zero sense on Amadjar that this band in any way playing to an international audience; on the contrary, this music feels hermetic in its focus, guitars picking out bluesy motifs, voices rising together in mournful chorus, all tethered by a simple drum rhythm that approximates the lollop of a camel making its way across the dunes. [Oct 2019, p.32]

Close It Quietly is billed as a collaborative, full-band release--and while the singer's distinctive vocals prevent too radical a departure, even the minute-long cuts here sound sturdier, more confident. [Oct 2019, p.27]

Musically this is arguably his most touching work since the early 2000s. [Oct 2019, p.27]

The follow-up sees them cutting all ties to their bleak kosmische past, shaping Jana Hunter's songs--which reflect politico-personal anxiety about our collective raging competitiveness, among other things--into darkly gleaming and hopeful synthpop panoramas. Hunter's rich contralto is always at their centre. [Oct 2019, p.29]

The intimate, minimal work done by his accomplices serves to channel Pop at his bleakest and most rueful. [Oct 2019, p.34]

Not all of it works--the ballads sag, and the reggaeton-influenced "Paradise" is ill-advised--but much of Miles's playing is on fire. [Oct 2019, p.45]

A deep-breathing, ecstatic joy. [Sep 2019, p.34]

Hynde's default here is swoon and ache. Add her incendiary guitar to Mingus instrumental "Meditation (On A Pair Of Wirecutters)" plus a lovely dubbed-out, spacy "Caroline No" and her one-of-a-kind signature is writ large. [Oct 2019, p.29]

The tunes are getting stronger. [Oct 2019, p.24]

A collaborative project that's all over the map--delightfully so. [Sep 2019, p.29]

Alas, genuinely surprising moments are scarcer on much of Wallop, with rudimentary workouts outnumbering the fresher like of "$50 Million" and its super-charged Chic groove. [Oct 2019, p.23]

This engrossing hour-and-three-quarter work pursues long-form drones at the pipe organ in a way that is both hypnotic and uplifting. [Oct 2019, p.30]

The soft-rock paradigm with its classic Fleetwood Mac/Carole King references is self-limiting, but the songs are lucid and heartfelt in their graceful ruminations on the passage of time. [Sep 2019, p.34]

If this is indeed Crow's last recording, as she's speculated, this cavalcade of hotwired connections is a splendid way to cap off her career. [Oct 2019, p.27]

The pair specialise in primitive house tracks drizzled with acid, which work best when one of their male vocalists drawls sweet nothings deep in the mix. [Sep 2019, p.33]

Much of [Kasabian's] personality comes from guitarist/songwriter/producer Serge Pizzorno, and on this solo project, similar quirks stands out. [Oct 2019, p.36]

Forever Turned Around hovers in a midrange that's objectively nice, but lacks the vigour required of something memorable. [Oct 2019, p.39]

The results are exquisite. [Sep 2019, p.34]

More subdued yet equally captivating follow-up. [Oct 2019, p.24]

Notably rockier than its more pastoral predecessors and all the finer for it. [Oct 2019, p.33]

The film blurs lines between horror and ink-black comedy, and Krlic's score, texturally vast, moodily versatile and unnerving without being bombastic, moving deftly with it as one. [Oct 2019, p.29]

Guild takes a few listens to really seep in, but there are some truly hallucinatory moments here. [Oct 2019, p.39]

Furman's distinctive shrieking, poetic phrasing and postmodernist perspective prevents the work from sounding overtly derivative. It instead borrows the best qualities of its forebears, and fuses them into something new. [Sep 2019, p.22]

Modern nature is an explicitly English affair: unbluesy, unassuming and slightly uptight (in a good way). [Sep 2019, p.36]

Beyond The Door might at times nod to good-time escapism, but it also represents unsullied rock'n'roll in music's most splintered age. [Sep 2019, p.33]

Themes of mind control are sprinkled throughout the record, whose highlights include storm opener "Paradise," the semi-rapped title track, the funky "The Planet Of Straw Man" and closing song "Maria 63." [Oct 2019, p.39]

A Distant Call is full of songs that are pretty good, but it rarely stops you in your tracks. [Oct 2019, p.36]

An album that takes nothing for granted, that doesn't consider your attention a gift, that wants to impart something profound to you. Trust her. [Sep 2019, p.28]

This one feels a bit brighter, more pop, than usual, though the Stooges lift of "Some Unknown Reason" is dankly bloodied. [Sep 2019, p.24]

Arnold's voice is as rich as ever on this upbeat, triumphant return to the spotlight, crystal clear and cutting straight to the heart. [Sep 2019, p.23]

Inspired by Alfred Stieglitz's photographs of clouds, it's inevitably founded upon lengthy drones but there's subtle drama here, too. [Oct 2019, p.29]

A robust if not radically groundbreaking set of hook-laden heartland Americana with occasional detours into college indie rock. [Oct 2019, p.39]

While it lacks flashiness, the 11-song performance is both raw and cooking, reminder of the country-rock/swamp-blues power that's moved bands from The Black Keys to White Denim. [Oct 2019, p.45]

An album of rapid-fire drums, throbbing bass and colossal riffs that nod, well, headbang, back heavily to the glory days of thrash metal. [Oct 2019, p.29]

As stylistically adventurous and technologically innovative as the album is, this community of musicians ensures it remains accessible and soulful. [Oct 2019, p.24]

Savour all the strangeness, the power and the glory that fill the present. [Oct 2019, p.22]

Across the record's 12 tracks, it's never entirely clear what the group are aiming for: anthemic indie rock by numbers, more introspective songs or something heavier. [Sep 2019, p.26]

Lyrically, The Murder Capital are less direct than Idles and Fontaines, but musically they're more expansive, bringing a brooding brain-twisting gothic feel. [Sep 2019, p.30]

Their inimitable fury and drive is intact. [Sep 2019, p.18]

Alongside the general pixelated bombast, it also represents Power's most melodic work. [Sep 2019, p.23]

May be Regan's finest 35 minutes to date. [Sep 2019, p.33]

Instead of fusing elements, Korwar lets them converse, drowning blinkered British racism out. [Aug 2019, p.31]

Overall this double album offers a rich blend of ambient glow, polyrhythmic glitch and absorbing textural detail. [Sep 2019, p.27]

It's the choices of material and approach that give Jesse Dayton's Mixtape Vol 1 its considerable kick. [Sep 2019, p.24]

While these 12 songs shake no foundations, they hold their own. [Sep 2019, p.34]

Aokohio maintains that momentum [from 2017's Moh Lhean], even if it is typically scattershot, haphazard, surreal and episodic, featuring short bursts of beautiful melody, soul-searching found sounds, unsettling atmospherics and dark humour. [Sep 2019, p.37]

Cross has created something of a mesmerising mini-masterpiece. [Sep 2019, p.24]