Has the feel of an artist whose rougher edges have long since been washed away. [Oct 2006, p.119]

Nelson sings like a canary and plays like a dream, Haggard growls like a grizzled jailbird, and everyone seems to be having a blast. [Jul 2015, p.72]

Against considerable odds--'Cause I Sez So is a bit of a hoot. [Jun 2009, p.95]

Horrific it's not, but with its cover of protest song "Portlandtown" and Dubya-inspired lyrics on "Laughter In The Dark", neither is it an innocent pleasure. [Apr 2005, p.105]

One of the most coherent and surprising big-ticket pop albums in years. [Apr 2016, p.79]

This agreeable sequel boasts a more coherent country-folk sound, ironing out some of its predecessor's quirky, hand-knitted allure. [May 2011, p.77]

The rest of Tripper rises to the challenge with nonchalant ease. [Sep 2011, p.87]

Arbouretum have often looked from a distance kike a vehicle for their frontman. Ostensibly Dave Heumann's first solo album, Her In the Deep more or less confirms as much. [Nov 2015, p.77]

They're pleasingly bleak on their second studio set. [Dec 2015, p.78]

Caroline's 2CD sampler of her moonlighting efforts features charming interludes from past lives. [Nov 2015, p.96]

Helm seems constrained within the immaculate settings, only intimating the emotional lift-off the material yearns for. She makes a deeper connection with the newly penned "Heaven's Holding Me," delivering the LP's most heartfelt, uplifting performance. [Nov 2018, p.30]

Allways is as mercurial as it is highly listenable. [Nov 2018, p.26]

Many of the covers are of recent blues songs, such as Joe Bonamassa's "Distant Lonesome Train," Gary Moore's "The Hurt Inside" or "Evil And Here To Stay" by John Headley, but Mayall is able to locate them firmly within an older blues tradition without ever making them sound like hollow tributes. [Mar 2019, p.30]

In less successful moments, the album idles in a mid-tempo gaze. [Jun 2019, p.30]

At first it all sounds slightly undercooked, but soon its crunched funk and sinuous synthwork, nicely judged on "Another State Of Consciousness," suggest a master grasping a new technique. [Sep 2019, p.37]

Devotees of the 2000-era indie-pop of the Clientele and Marry's former employers in Camera Obscura will be charmed by the pretty likes of "Julie: and "Gold & Lips," though Banane Bleu could've benefited from more darker hes that enriched Fleurs Du Mal. [Apr 2021, p.29]

From the hypnotic opener “Kasai Munene” to the upbeat closer “Allstars All Around” with its spiralling soukous guitars, this is celebratory music-making at its most joyously instinctual. [Jul 2021, p.27]

As peculiar as "The Doll" and "Blue Tits" are, at heart this is thrilling, possibly visionary pop. [Nov 2021, p.25]

Presented largely stripped of 1967 production values – acoustic folk with a bit of reverb – but still sound innately lysergic. [Sep 2024, p.33]

Now, at 52, Gelb’s music seems to have found a renewed vigour, a sharper focus. ProVISIONS not only has some lean 'n' lovely boy-girl ballads, wild mood swings and a frequent groove, but also a sense of intent.

While the likes of Living It Out are perfecting mutant disco, Rostron's self-consciousness means this expertly produced set suffers from too much quirkiness. [Jun 2011, p.93]

Peachy-keen harmonies, pop smarts and salacious detail make a simple but effective combination. [Apr 2016, p.78]

Once again, Daschanel demonstrates a deep understanding and irony-free love of innocent, old-school pop craft in her writing, but too many of the chorus hooks pass by without sticking, and aome of the stacked-up vocal arrangements sag under their own weight. [May 2010, p.102]

Rather than act like temporary caretakers tiptoeing around WWI's vast, eternally resonant themes, Field Music have sensibly moved in and made them their own. Not a memorial, then, so much as a remix of history. [Feb 2020, p.24]

They're on fine form with the hammered glam-boogie of "Eagle Birds" and the absurdly good-time "Lo/Hi," but underwhelm with the mid-tempo "Walk Across The Water and QOTSA-ish "Shine A Little Light." [Aug 2019, p.26]

Beneath the opulent layers and studio tweaks, however, lie some very orthodox, very average Eighties indie songs. [Mar 2002, p.96]

A remarkable return. [Oct 2003, p.130]

This is berserk, this is brilliant, this is now. [Nov 2003, p.107]