10 songs that glint like shards of glass yet brim with love, grief, courage, existential doubt and all the stuff that makes us human, to a soundtrack of grungy alt.rock cut with torch-song melodrama and Lenker-ish folk. [Sep 2023, p.27]

Pratt doesn't recreate the lo-fi sound of her previous records so much as she elaborates on it. [Mar 2019, p.32]

The record is awash with sparkling, instantly memorable melodies. [Apr 2020, p.28]

They’ve smuggled in sobering thoughts of isolation, loneliness and optimism’s perpetual challenge. But hope wins through with the sprightly funk and handclaps of closer “You Get Better”. [May 2021, p.25]

Hot Thoughts finds Spoon at the peak of their considerable powers, their ninth album effortlessly unfolding and revealing its mysteries as they cement their place in the firmament of undeniably great rock bands. [Apr 2017, p.34]

Though Mitchell and Hamer avoid the kind of astringent vocal blends favoured by most British singers of these ballads, there's still an intriguing piquancy to their harmonies, with Mitchell's girlish timbre resting against Hamer's milder, warmer tones.

While the familiar swagger is present and correct both in the Bowie-influenced "Spiderhead" and the crackling "It's Just Forever," these moments are leavened by quieter, more reflective tracks such as "Hypocrite." [Mar 2014, p.72]

Overall, then, mbv is more of a time capsule than a box of surprises, but the contents have survived in immaculate condition. [Apr 2013, p.64]

The Ship successfully combines--surprisingly for the first time--his ambient and song-based work. [Jun 2016, p.73]

It is not only Wild Beats' finest album to date, but one of the best you're likely to hear all year. [Jun 2011, p.90]

The curveballs keep flying through the climactic triptych - the Kid A-evoking eruption "Bow Down", the incantatory "Taxes" and the hallucinogenic "Long Island City Here I Come". [Oct 2025, p.27]

Ultimately, it's that out-of-time devotion--along with soaring choruses to put most contemporaries to shame--which makes this a debut record to cherish. [May 2004, p.104]

Packed with brilliant, bohemian songs that combine affecting lyrical honesty, beguiling melodies and a voice that has a touch of Alanis Morissette. [May 2005, p.96]

It works best when her vocal is minimally adorned. [Oct 2011, p.105]

The record to funk up your festive period. [Jan 2016, p.77]

Richard Koch's trumpet and Shards' choral vocals on the spooky "Human Range" confirm his quiet urge to defy expectations. [Feb 2018, p.27]

The harmonies are exquisite, lending a sense of timelessness to gently understated melodies. Listen harder, and the subtleties of Howe Gelb's production blow in. [Feb 2018, p.29]

A glowering inferno. [Mar 2019, p.24]

Each song works brilliantly in isolation, making this a treasure trove of Wyatt’s finest work ever.

The result is one of his most varied but distinct albums. [May 2020, p.35]

There's not a moment on this album when the session players intrude on the song or on White's vocal. ... It makes you forget, if only for a few minutes, that he wasn't actually in the studio with them. Instead, they simply let him tell his stories. [Jun 2021, p.26]

Kurt Wagner’s appetite for change hasn’t dwindled, and Lambchop’s succinct 16th is, thanks to his MIDI piano experiments, particularly tempting. [Jul 2021, p.30]

Whether observing modern Manson cults gathering “silent as a snowdrift in the hills, or delivering a sunrise eulogy bearing David Berman away, Darnielle’s sympathy never fails. [Aug 2021, p.31]

The Road To The Sea is a blithe but bittersweet affair. [Jun 2025, p.35]

You Have Already Gone to the Other World, produced by Deerhoof's John Dieterich, is their best yet. [May 2013, p.65]

Wonderful stuff. [Aug 2016, p.76]

Inventive, playful and utterly engrossing, Celebration, Florida has much to revel in. [Jun 2011, p.92]

Sincere and beautiful. [Nov 2003, p.116]