There's a tendency to drift rather than fully engage, but... "Wolves" and... "Thin Blue Line"... dazzle with poetic imagery and invention. [Apr 2006, p.102]

Self-serious and low on humour, Suede sometimes mistake bigness for greatness, but they still generate enough lusty passion to set pulses racing and hearts aflame. [Feb 2016, p.83]

Menzies fuses his recent interest in classical work with glitchy dystopian techno, painting a nine-more-black picture that lurches between bruised James Blake and after-hours heroin party with no little elegance before ultimately losing its way in all the fog. [Feb 2016, p.80]

The fourth album finds them touting a tougher sound with the addition of a second guitar, but the strident, passionate voice of Erika Wennerstrom remains their calling card. [Jan 2013, p.77]

Not thrilling, maybe, but pleasingly solid. [Apr 2018, p.24]

Easy listening it's not, yet there's defiance, too ("You Mustn't Show Weakness") and even transcendence ("A World Of Love And Care") before Furman ends with a posutively harrowing cover of Alex Walton's emotionally fraught "I Need The Angel". [May 2025, p.31]

The duo of Matt Carlon on Modular synthesiser and Joanthan Sielaff on bass clarinet, are onto something with Seer. [May 2014, p.74]

Their strongest and most coherent records. [Jul 2018, p.28]

There are moments, such as in "Crazy Love" and "Monster Again," where the vibe is less open-hearted confessional than "Futurehead Does Andrew Lloyd Webber." Even so, this is a brave and extremely poignant piece of work. [Jul 2016, p.74]

Fohr's voice is the constant, but here's it's denuded, its strangely hollowed-out tone perfect for Jackie Lynn's dizzying theatrics. [Jul 2016, p.76]

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]

Purling Hiss set aside their chaotic brand of psychedelic garage rock in favour of a collection that seems to owe a surprising debt to British New Wave of the late '70s and early '80s. [Nov 2016, p.35]

Trupa Trupa's sixth album favours often lovely, mysterious ritualistic sounds. [Mar 2022, p.36]

A genuine emotional affinity underpins the marriage between Lanegan's lupine growl and 12 melodramatic songs of masculine despair. [Oct 2013, p.70]

A couple of tracks are interesting alternatives versions of songs from A Weird Exit, while on the all-new pieces, the general mood is mellower than usual. [Jan 2017, p.31]

Reprieve is probably the easiest album to listen to that she's ever made. [Oct 2006, p.104]

It's good to hear him finally write and record with a proper band. About The Light is at its best when it takes advantage of this new freedom. [Feb 2019, p.29]

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]

On Paradise, cleaner recording--proudly made with Pro Tools--largely sharpens instead of defangs, while bringing out guitarist Kenneth Williams' surprisingly deep cabinet of textures. [Jun 2016, p.82]

The result is pure pleasure as Black takes the trademark Brewis sound and ramps up the funk on groove-driven art-pop gems. [May 2015, p.81]

A subtly lyrical and perennially thoughtful writer, Minnesotan Gorka is both stellar and predictable on this, his 14th album. [Apr 2014, p.76]

A generic gem, full of virtuosic playing, breathtaking three-part harmonies and memorable, melodic songs about the human condition. [May 2023, p.32]

Something on High obsesses on matters of faith, most compellingly on "Bodies," a dystopian reimagining of the Ark story. [Nov 2014, p.83]

The material here moves in the jazzier vein of Zappa's early '70s LPs. [Aug 2023, p.51]

Life Slime is anything but maudlin, though, as Lynch ad producer Mike Lindsay fashion spry, agreeably wonky electropop from an arsenal of synths, samplers and other instruments. [May 2026, p.34]

Watkins' judicious arrangements and less-is-more approach throw different shades onto these songs she fell in love with a child. [May 2021, p.35]

Life & Times is a winning showcase of their uptempo moods. [Jan 2013, p.77]

Their music rarely sounds like the blues: "Let Me Get By" is a fiery funk waltz, "In Every Heart" a 6/8 Stax-styled ballad with woozy horns, while the blue-eyed soul of "Crying Over You" segues into a flute-led raga. [Mar 2016, p.81]