They run out of steam completely towards the end.... But there's still plenty here to justify giving up your heart to that simple chord all over again. [Sep 2003, p.110]

The fatalistic and darkening Gothic moods bring out some of the shiniest elements of his prodigious talent and imagination. [Aug 2013, p.67]

A gleaming set of R&B, pop, bedroom soul and even reggae. [Sep 2005, p.112]

The pair unleash a succession of hallucinatory soundscapes that feel hermetically sealed yet confrontational, as if daring us to fire up a fat blunt and allow this sleek beast to burrow into our frontal lobes. [Oct 2013, p.71]

Though not as daring as the Pole's free-jazz output, this gilded modular synthesis is a safe and satisfying listen that pushes him into another realm. [Mar 2020, p.37]

The 76-year-old virtuoso is at his most poignantly expressive on the album's inward-turned, stripped-back blues ballads. [Jul 2022, p.34]

Sea Island feels comfortable, perhaps a little overly so, though there are plenty of lovely moments. [Jan 2015, p.74]

Cupid Deluxe is a more mature and collaborative affair that sees Hynes marinate his songs in an early-'90s soul-funk fusion that foregrounds groove over melody. [Dec 2013, p.65]

Climax is both poundingly heavy and pleasingly melodic, at times recalling the Sisters Of mercy in their crossover pomp. [Feb 2014, p.71]

Deptford Goth's ghost R&B keens admiringly in the direction of Bon Iver and Active Child. [Apr 2013, p.69]

This follow-up to last year's impressive debut, Dear, is no less musically intense or lyrically unflinching, but now Henson's quavering anxiety has flesh on its bones. [Mar 2013, p.]

Mood-wise it's their bleakest yet. [Mar 2003, p.112]

It's chaotic then, but it's also packed with charm. [Jul 2013, p.83]

A crawling, paranoiac jazz-funk odyssey. It might be the best of these Dwyer & Co records to date. [Feb 2022, p.28]

It's a warm, modestly confident record with elegant touches, and one that spits out occasional sparks, too. [Sep 2023, p.27]

Songs move at a satisfying clip, with modal harmonies and woody violin scrapes creating a misty, pensive atmosphere in which their analytical tales of fleeting urban encounters feel like ancient fables. [Mar 2018, p.31]

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]

This score for the new Hawkings biopic is an effective series of piano-based miniatures sweetened with strings and harp. [Feb 2015, p.79]

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]

Her flow has a bratty edge and unhurried, authoritative core, capable of Philly soul sweetness on “Lo Rain”, or riding low, squelching beats on “IDGAF”. ... Meanwhile, “Let Me Be Great” isa pan-African firework display celebrating her rooted rebirth. [Oct 2022, p.34]

Album highlight “Understood” sounds particularly Young-like here too, but elsewhere Martsch sounds confident in his own skin, merging interlocking layered guitars, subtle melodic touches and licks that veer from crunchy to blissed out. [Oct 2022, p.26]

Enderness is more of a brooding country-soul set, with the emphasis on soul. It's also more abstract. [Jun 2019, p.24]

A truly futuristic slice of R&B. [Jun 2017, p.30]

A less full-tilt affair than their first effort... but no less fun. [Jul 2004, p.95]

The Streets' Original Pirate Material crossbred with The Fall's Grotesque, it's nasty and brutish, but mercifully short. [Jun 2014, p.83]

The result is something abrasive but controlled. [Jul 2013, p.83]

This is a coherent set of transformative reveries by an older, less angry man. [Jan 2022, p.31]

After a strong start, though, her sixth album sags in the middle with a run of ho-hum numbers, until Welch summons the elements again with the orchestral flourish of "You Can't Have It All". [Review of the Year 2025, p.24]