It's a long time since we heard three-part harmonies as good as this from anyone. [Jun 2003, p.104]

As instantly addictive as it is disposable. [Nov 2003, p.108]

"When The End Is Over" offers a glimpse of his sweetly ruminative side, but the amped-up riffs and recorded-in-a-garage fidelity keep things firmly in the red. [May 2023, p.32]

The synth reveries outstay their welcome, but the sense is of a great talent whose early solo work vented a lifetime's pain and outrage now experimenting and recalibrating. [Nov 2018, p.30]

As befits a compilation of songs that weren't up to scratch the first time around, 24 Karat Gold contains a few tinpot tracks that even the Nashville boys couldn't fix. Most, too, spill over the five-minute mark. But as fresh testament from one rock's great survivors, it makes for a fascinating listen. [Nov 2014, p.82]

The showpiece is "Blue Remembered Hills," a 20-minute closing epic about 1970s Britian that is part musical theatre, part bittersweet lament.[Jan 2017, p.32]

In a single sitting it can tend toward the soporific, but there's unforced sweetness in this groovy drifting off. [Aug 2023, p.34]

Delightful for a dark night in. [Jan 2019, p.27]

Santigold never flags in her campaign to capture the dwindling attention spans of modern pop fans. [Feb 2016, p.79]

A hook-loaded gem, showing off the songwriter's playful side and a fluttering new vocal register. [Jul 2026, p.39]

Any spiritual ecstasy on offer here appears to be of a more private kind, although no doubt offering a glimpse of the divine to believers. On other listeners, particularly those unfamiliar with Sanskrit and either ignorant or dismissive of the belief system of which these songs are an expression, its effects will be less certain. But the longer you listen, the more you’re drawn in and the less aesthetically confining the music’s self-imposed restraints seem. [Aug 2021, p.36]

It's a beautifully judged (electronic) psych-pop record that hums with warmth, quiet eccentricity and gentle wryness, recalling Robert Wyatt, '60s French pop and Gruff Rhys' solo fare. [Jul 2017, p.39]

Though Depayse's lyrics are often weighty, the music is energetic and raw, a contrast that speaks to the immigrant experience writ large. [Jul 2019, p.34]

All in all, an admirable comeback. [Nov 2004, p.108]

This is something wholly unexpected. [Sep 2015, p.78]

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]

Impassioned, sparkling with energy and absurdly bouncy, it's a reminder of everything the North Carolina quartet did well. [Sep 2013, p.95]

This fifth album immediately feels well adjusted and familiar. [Feb 2020, p.25]

An engaging thing it is too. [Apr 2020, p.28]

Turin Brakes makes no attempt to fix what isn't broken, honing their melodic, acoustic-based forays into rootsy genres. [Mar 2016, p.81]

Understated acoustic shuffles give the record a sense of the passing of time, as does the tender regret of "Snowflakes In The Sun." [Feb 2014, p.81]

Though the band's affection for Blonie, Pixies and Osees is plain, it's not intrusive and music's x-factor is an ominous undertow, notably provided by the keyboard on breakneck instrumental "(Post Apocalypstick)". [Jan 2024, p.28]

Motorik grooves underpin the most bracing songs on the band's second effort. [Jul 2017, p.40]

She's actually more effective when slowing things things down a notch. [May 2014, p.77]

At once punchy and overwrought, and blessed with some extremely good, if slightly monotonous, tunes. [Nov 2003, p.120]

Channels a palpable love of early Fall... and Daydream Nation-period Sonic Youth... into a convincing half-hour that teeters, teasingly, on the brink of collapse. [Jul 2004, p.102]

A record varied in tone and rhythm, capturing a band over 35 years in who are experimenting and sounding rejuvenated. [Sep 2018, p.32]

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]