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]

There are many fine moments here. [Apr 2014, p.76]

Ultimately, the changes are subtle rather than profound and Gray still sounds like he's been nailed to a cross--which will no doubt come as a relief to loyal fans. [Jul 2014, p.74]

Meshell's search for love and meaning rarely asserts itself over the sense of muso friends at play. [Aug 2014, p.76]

Surprises are few on the pair's excellent fourth album Par Avion. [Sep 2014, p.81]

The dozen sly and witty songs are all Setzer originals, but it takes a liitle suspension of disbelief to imagine "Calamity Jane" and "Cock-a-Doodle Don't" could've been authentically written 60 years ago. [Oct 2014, p.79]

It doesn't always comes off, but there are plenty of inspiring moments. [Dec 2014, p.81]

This electronica-centred return focuses on the power of love. [Oct 2014, p.74]

They channel their power into free form excursions of an often surprising delicacy. [Jan 2015, p.75]

Rousing epics "Dull Care" and "Genuflection" are soaked in hearty man tears. [Apr 2015, p.75]

Too often, frontman Euan Hinshelwood's strivings for tragedy come off as merely morose. [Dec 2015, p.81]

At times, it's redolent in scope of Paul Weller's 21 Dreams. [Dec 2015, p.78]

The Belfast trio revel in producing the sort of catchy, fuzzy pop exemplified by the hooky "Ordinary Daze" and "Down Dog," although they can also work in more expansive territory, like "I Won't Let Go." There's wit too. [Feb 2016, p.79]

Often, however, it's the catchy, heads-down belters that win you over. [Mar 2016, p.81]

The musical richness and genre-blending confidence adds up to a quietly great album. [Mar 2016, p.82]

Vocalist Nicholas Wood's doomy proclamations are frequently buried amid murky guitar and electronic textures, which can obscure the songs somewhat. [May 2016, p.75]

While there's a hefty serving of funk on "The Clone," Sherwood keeps his distance, bringing space to psycho-ballads such as "Abracadabra" and "Monocle Man" as the pair reassembled their skeletal, wheezing pop in intriguing new forms. [Jun 2016, p.74]

What sounds showy on paper is, in reality, a respectful, atmospheric tribute to the Bard. [Jun 2016, p.82]

A delicate album of soft '60s-inflected pop that mostly plays like a great Evie Sands or Bobbie Gentry record. [Sep 2016, p.78]

[Producer Blake Mills] deftly applied his gift for song-serving ornamentation and transformed sluggish Dawes into an aggressively inventive band. [Nov 2016, p.26]

The three proper songs are the highlights, though, with the Bacharach-esque title track among the finest Rhys has ever produced. [Nov 2016, p.37]

Future Standards is both an intimate, low-key experience and a highly welcome new detour. [Jan 2017, p.25]

Bell's music is refreshingly uncomplicated. [Dec 2016, p.28]

Electa is at its best when the folk rears its head. [Jan 2017, p.32]

It's all insanely catchy. [Feb 2017, p.33]

The more melodic and less maniacal "Melting" and "Sleep Drifter" point toward newer ambitions and influences. Especially welcome is the turn toward Middle Eastern and North African sounds on "Anoxia" and the title track.[Mar 2017, p.32]

Splic[es] savage wit and cynicism with hopefulness. [Apr 2017, p.28]

You Had Me At Goodbye finds her experimenting with musical form, be it on chamber-folk eulogy "When The Roses Bloom Again," "Windmill Crusader's" skittish electro-pop or the droll "Antiseptic Greeting." There are moments of minimal charm here, too. [Apr 2017, p.26]