It's the kind of listen whose rich but unfussy loveliness belies its deeply personal lyrics. [Dec 2021, p.24]

This sombre threesome could use a little humour and warmth, but there is real passion in reverb-drenched, Spector-ish, elemental pastorals like "Rivers" and "Trenches." [Sep 2015, p.80]

At times their lurid romanticism can be an acquired taste... But there's an ambition and articulacy here. [Mar 2005, p.104]

It's a bravura fusion of dense-art metal/pop and strutting baroque disco. [Nov 2017, p.36]

A cohesive album that is simultaneously Big Star-ish (but not slavishly so) and Chilton-like (but not depressingly so). [Oct 2005, p.98]

She alternates between fighting the current and giving in. That approach, coupled with vocals balancing despair and determination, lends "The Smoke", with its cathedral synths, and especially "Division", with its narcotised krautrock drumbeat, an unsettling energy that's both treacherous and cathartic. [Mar 2026, p.29]

Empire arrives with the same frazzled mien as Oasis' What's The Story (Morning Glory); alive with paranoia, delivered with an unshakeable self-belief. It's relentless stuff. [Sep 2006, p.80]

More straightforward.... Lovely. [Oct 2015, p.76]

A record dotted with peaks. [Apr 2007, p.93]

The rewards are high. [Mar 2016, p.73]

The closing "That Way My Garden" typifies playing of purposeful spiritual strength, crashing through into some great beyond. [Apr 2025, p.28]

One of his most engrossing albums yet, a gorgeously unsettling collection of itchy electronics. [Apr 2016, p.81]

One-hit wonders no more, White and de Martino now sound prepared for a big pop future. [Mar 2012, p.101]

Though sometimes still prone to cliche, in his finest work--such as the salient balladry of "Bad Dreams" and "Silent Movie"--LaFarge confronts roiling uncertainty and chaos, to great effect. [Jun 2017, p.33]

This follow-up feels less homemade, but just as delicately adventurous. [Oct 2009, p.108]

Working with former Lamb partner Andy Barlow for the first time in six years, her marriage of vocal and acoustic guitar is raw yet rewarding. [Apr 2010, p.97]

A sublime suite of semi-ambient glitch-pop. [Dec 2001, p.106]

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]

Amidon's spry banjo and sky-blue voice give this music a gentle centre, light on ego or affection. [Dec 2020, p.27]

Mutt offers a terrific spread of styles. [Sep 2012, p.73]

A perfect summer record for those who found the last Beach House album too wintry. [Sep 2013, p.94]

Island Family examines themes of identity, isolation and belonging against an endlessly inventive backdrop of sweeping electronica, clever samples and weirdy folk, sometimes strangely blissful and at others beat-driven and wakeful. [Apr 2022, p.32]

Its 10 tracks show that age still hasn't tamed Hammill's mighty, stentorian voice or the existential rage still burning at the centre of his songs. [Dec 2017, p.27]

Real-life dramas wrapped in uplifting tunes. [Aug 2006, p.86]

There's something curiously inviting about this understated music. [Nov 2006, p.120]

Another terrific collection, tacking a stylish course between Jam and Lewis, Zapp and raving crunk. [May 2007, p.88]

The Coincidentalist, as with most things Gelb puts a shoulder to, is a thing of strange, understated pleasure. [Nov 2013, p.68]

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.