Guitars play more of a supporting role, and the tonal shifts suits the band, with Philippakis's voice given much more room to float elegantly through the record, [Apr 2019, p.29]

A bit long it may be, but his 10th studio album packs a punch while light on its feet. [Jun 2020, p.29]

A few underpowered, slate-grey instrumentals miss the mark, but the gorgeously warped "Tied And Bound" comes close to the alien beauty of Mica Levi's sonically extreme soundtrack work. [Mar 2015, p.84]

Nite Fields' debut album is a far grittier prospect than the neon-lit, 1980s-flavoured spelling of their name suggests, thanks largely to its predominant mood of nocturnal gloom. [Apr 2015, p.81]

They lurch with satisfying abandon through funereal Slint-like post-rock to unashamedly slovenly pixies-ish riffs to splenetic blasts of screaming hardcore and staccato math-rock scrapes, as Zak Bowker intermittently makes his strangled screams heard above the maelstrom. [Jun 2025, p.41]

Simultaneously dry, jaunty and eerie, As If Apart takes time to get lost in, but it's worth the effort. [Jul 2016, p.71]

It's all enjoyably preposterous. [Jun 2013, p.75]

Mainly, this is brilliant pop music... though Beenie's insistence on asserting his celebrated heterosexuality can grate. [Sep 2004, p.101]

While Ward's phrasing is very much his own at times, the gambit yields the most compelling results when he best approximates Holiday's silvery delivery and weary air. [Jan 2021, p.33]

In the absence of original recordings, it's hard to know what to judge these against. [Oct 2014, p.80]

Here are smoky, jazz-pop elegies, era-defining homages and bittersweet, elegantly orchestrated ruminations, underlining Jackson's reputation as a maverick auteur. [Nov 2015, p.77]

Every element of Certified is exaggerated.... It frequently makes for energised hip hop. [Jan 2006, p.105]

Aventine remains pleasingly measured and minimal. [Oct 2013, p.72]

Sampson has broadened her horizons on this largely self-produced album, mastering a richer range of sounds and styles clipped synthfunk to sleek R&B to sumptuous gospel-pop. [Feb 2017, p.37]

A sense of tin-pot invention run through You're Only Young Once. [Review of the Year 2024, p.35]

A crop of startling, striped-down songs. [Feb 2016, p.78]

Despite also cooking up a glam stomp with "We All Die Young," it sometimes feels overly contrived. The epic "Rusalka, Rusalka/The Wild Rushes" is a notable exception. [Apr 2018, p.26]

Firepower delivers an agreeably familiar mix of skull-pummelling drums, eyebrow singeing guitar pyrotechnics and multi-tracked operatic vocals. [Apr 2018, p.28]

A rich, gothic record, steeped in sensuality. [Jun 2020, p.29]

The title track's anthem of righteous '60s-style fight confirms serious intent to add to Lowell Gregory's legacy. [Jun 2025, p.34]

It works well enough that when "Falling Away" pastes on some broiling guitar feedback, it sounds almost superfluous. [Apr 2012, p.77]

Hushed and humble, it's dominated by her Stina Nordenstam vocal style. [Jul 2019, p.30]

Quieter, more ethereal tracks such as "Lone Wolf" have less of an impact, showing that Landshapes are at their best when they're loud. [Jun 2015, p.77]

Offers a more intimate appraisal of his state of mind. [Jan 2023, p.18]

The rough-and-ready songwriting is all part of the conceptual high-jinks. [Jul 2015, p.81]

This sequel is more focused and song-based. [Jul 2014, p.69]

These shimmery reworkings of Cave classics including "The Ship Song" and "Red Right Hand" are pleasingly free of both solemn reverence and ironic kitsch. [Feb 2022, p.33]

Jimmy Hall's vocals are unremarkable, but it barely matters; it's a guitar album and Beck still sounds as innovative and virtuosic as anyone. [Jul 2015, p.71]