[The album] adds a newfound sang-froid to their quiet/loud approach. [May 2007, p.100]

Mesmerising stuff. [Jun 2007, p.99]

The Purple Bird is a consummate listen-through that makes highlights hard to pick but "Boise, Idaho", a yearning beauty with a fine arrangement and hints of Glen Campbell, is one. [Feb 2025, p.30]

An album as strange as it is compelling. [Mar 2015, p.77]

She brings Gorecki's great classical prayer to life beautifully, an expression of empathy that feels deep and profound. [May 2019, p.25]

I'm Not Your Man is a much rowdier navigation of female relationships and sexuality that moves between dark dreampop and post-Belly/Breeders rock, armed with flashing hooks. [Aug 2017, p.30]

It's hard to dispute that Ufabulum find him in the form of his life. [Jun 2012, p.84]

Carvings is a more considered affair [than 2020's All Ears], stepping back from first-person confessional into a wider canvas of community, place and time. [Mar 2023, p.26]

There are moments of genius throughout. [Sep 2015, p.91]

It's excellent stuff. [Oct 2015, p.75]

This is one mighty party album. [May 2006, p.105]

Italian jobs come no finer. [Dec 2015, p.73]

No single track grandstands, but the Black Midi-ish epic roll of "Senegal" is a laser-tooled highlight. [Mar 2026, p.36]

Wonderfully dark fourth album. [Jan 2019, p.22]

There are strings aplenty, arranged as baroque lullabies or strange waltzes, Hinson shuffling his sorrows against a backdrop of multitracked choirs and fractured noise. Incredibly addictive. [Jul 2010, p.116]

Wonderful it is too, King's rich baritone and Dalgleish's emotive voice delivering a baker's dozen of duets that carry the sting of authentic Country Classics. [Jan 2012, p.94]

All the writers who share Lund's love of droll wordplay, and all their works are illuminated by Lund's signature laconic twinkle, and the Hurtin' Alberans' deadpan virtuosity. [Aug 2022, p.29]

This is a rich listen, strengthened by Galanin's burning focus on critical issues. [Jun 2021, p.33]

This is the sound of a band surprising itself. [July 2008, p.92]

As the album proceeds, these simpatico players alternate between swaddling Showalter's introspective songs in downy ambience and dialling up the grandeur, before the Clash-like stomper "Moon Landing," with Jason Isbell blazing on electric guitar, relives the accrued existential torment. [Apr 2019, p.36]

This is regal, majestic pop music played with a roundheaded bluntness. Off with their heads indeed.

The parade of fretboard styles Cooder brings to the album is masterly. [Jun 2018, p.22]

Throughout, tracks like "Love Matters" and "Salt Cleans" keep the oddness in check with some irritatingly catchy pop hooks. [Jul 2017, p.30]

Diawara's voice is a supple and enchanting instruments, and her accomplices (in particular kora player Sidiki Diabate) sublime. [Jul 2018, p.27]

Everything sounds deliciously grubby and unpolished.

With World Record, Young tosses things up in the air. For much of the album, he abandons guitar and with it the classic Horse sound, opting to lead on keyboard, mostly pump organ. ... Producer Rick Rubin carefully captures a live sound, a spontaneous first-take feel. [Jan 2023, p.22]

Its 10 songs sing with warmth, love, gratitude and lessons learned. [Sep 2020, p.37]

Their debut takes SBB's percussive "Congotronics" sound and twists it into dramatic new shapes. [Jun 2015, p.78]