There are proficient pastiches...[and] there are plenty of chugging, 6/8 neo-soul ballads. [Sep 2012, p.79]

They appear to have moved back into full-on Afrika 70 revivalism. [Sep 2012, p.73]

It's familiar territory but there's plenty to enjoy being pummelled by here. [Mar 2022, p.23]

There are hints of Cocteau Twins and Joanna Newsom, but the air of doomed beauty is Bruland's own. [Dec 2017, p.26]

If the results can be unremarkable the album is redeemed by Nelson's engagement on most cuts. [Dec 2013, p.68]

It's a new direction, one stretched fairly thin across nine similar tracks, but at least he's escaped that old echo chamber. [Mar 2019, p.32]

The album is more of a celebration than a wake, thanks to the Promise Of The Real’s youthful exuberance and Young’s own ageless spirit. [Sep 2022, p.32]

Aambles beyond his band’s already wide palette to embrace ’70s rock and pop flourishes. Squelchy sequencers and double racked guitars add drama to “One-Way Conversation”, while handclaps and a fuzzy synth bolster the details in the verses of “Almost Home.” [Jul 2021, p.31]

Problems are timelessly ordinary, loneliness lightly worn, and Webster's music is enriched by her unique cultural blend. [Jun 2019, p.37]

This fourth album owes obvious debts to classical cerebral dream pop. [May 2015, p.83]

His final album--and first since 1979--not only demonstrates the durability of the musical format he pioneered but also proves his indefatigability as an entertainer. [Jul 2017, p.25]

Singer John Philpot's boyish sighs and teen-romance lyrics feel a little lightweight and non-committal, but the promised groove element plays dividends during the album's second half. [May 2012, p.67]

It's a fairly smooth and coherent affair. [Feb 2023, p.28]

Songs about divorce, disillusionment and middle-aged spread combine vintage singer-songwriter styles with languidly funky scribbles of guitar. [Dec 2020, p.27]

The most appealing Actress record since Splazsh. [Aug 2024, p.29]

The rhythm tracks are built up from finger bells and clicking wooden percussion, while each track is overlaid with wisps of koto or zither, which shimmer appealingly over the top, adding a touch of global gravitas. [Aug 2013, p.71]

Lydon remains a devout pop modernist. [Oct 2015, p.81]

There's much knowingness in his brazenness, and it's a mark of his talent that he stares hubris in the eye and nearly gets away with it. [Sep 2013, p.97]

Return To The Moon is fully realised and offers plenty of intrigue, but .... rarely do they sound like a unit, and, surprisingly, Berninger is the one that ends up sounding a little lost. [Nov 2015, p.74]

Spanning just 32 minutes, The Art Of Pleasure feels slight and light. Even so, the warm glow of liberated self-love on sparkly standouts like "Float", "Phenomenal" and "Haute" is infectious. [Sep 2023, p.32]

Arrangements range from scraped guitars to epic brass fanfares and, unusually for an album about loners, there's no misanthropy. [Mar 2007, p.86]

The set ranges ambitiously from hypnotic, twisted love songs such as "103" and the title track to the warped gospel undertones of "My Girls My Girls" and "LA Hex", courtesy of the Compton Kidz Club Choir. [Dec 2023, p.31]

It's the most potent sound to come out of South Africa since DJ Mujava's '08 left-field hit on Warp with "Township Funk." [Apr 2012, p.82]

Fans of Hawley's rueful view of love and relationships, his fine guitar playing, and his magnificent singing voice will find them all present and correct here, if displayed in unexpected ways. [Jun 2012, p.75]

A return to a winning formula, if not an emphatic return to form. [Jun 2013, p.79]

While there's a little less shouting than usual going on, a more laconic American influence serves the well when Charlie Steen's drawl lends the title track's electro-pop textures a Dandy Warhols feel, and "Lampiao" channels an LCD-style tale of gangster mythology. [Nov 2025, p.36]

It begins as stormy Sabbath-inflected psych, but later takes some knowing stylistic detours. [Oct 2015, p.84]

It's strictly a mood piece, complete with daffy lyrics about mermaids, bicycles and "Gypsy Tears." [Aug 2014, p.81]